Profit before people puts the public at risk

etter late than never.” That’s what most people said when I interviewed them about their views on the overhaul of the ride-hailing industry, which was prompted by the murders of two young women by drivers employed by Didi Chuxing’s hitch service.

Despite the severity of the incidents, people seem fine with the safety measures the company introduced immediately after the government suspended its hitch service indefinitely.

However, as far as I am concerned, the solution doesn’t lie entirely in building a safety mechanism — it’s the company’s attitude and values that really matter.

It’s hardly news that many internet companies — including Didi — revolve around growth in user numbers and the length of time they can keep customers glued to apps so their data can be collected and analyzed.

The launch and promotion of the hitch platform as a social ride-sharing service serves as evidence of Didi’s hunger for more users.

Drivers and passengers were allowed to label or rate each other by appearance. The platform was rife with comments about “goddesses in silk stockings” and “beautiful female college students”.

In the aftermath of the murders, Didi released a statement saying it would stop using scale and growth as a measure of success.

The problem goes well beyond Didi, though. China has grown so quickly that many areas of life — shopping, online banking, transportation — lack established role models.

To some degree, Didi’s problems are similar with those of Baidu,

the country’s leading search engine.

Two years ago, Baidu was heavily criticized for foisting ads for fake medical treatments on the public. In one case, Wei Zexi, a 22-year-old cancer patient, died as a result of having a controversial treatment at a Beijing hospital. Wei’s family found the treatment through Baidu’s search platform.

The company apologized after each incident came to light, and was eventually ordered by the government to improve its paidfor listings model and rank search results according to credibility rather than the fees it was paid. Some users are still very angry with the company.

Both Baidu and Didi only saw profit in their technologies, not the public interest; the best way to become dominant in their fields, but not the best service they could provide.

While that makes them appealing to investors, it also makes them potentially dangerous to the public.

Performance versus user safety is an ethical dilemma for most internet companies.

Only when they solve that problem will the public truly be protected.