China’s Crackdown on Didi Is a Reminder That Beijing Is in Charge

After targeting the ride-hailing platform days after its I.P.O., regulators on Monday moved against more companies that had recently been listed on Wall Street.

In less than a week, China’s leading ride-hailing platform, Didi, has gone from investor darling with a megabucks Wall Street debut to the biggest new target in Beijing’s fast-moving efforts to tame the country’s internet industry. The latest front in the regulatory blitz is privacy and cybersecurity. Chinese consumers have grown increasingly privacy conscious in recent years, and the authorities have taken particular interest in safeguarding platforms, like Didi’s, that handle sensitive information such as locations. But Beijing’s moves against Didi — halting new user sign-ups, then ordering it off app stores in a span of two days — stand out both for their speed and for coming so soon after the company’s initial public offering last week. They send a stark message to Chinese businesses about the government’s authority over them, even if they operate globally and their stock trades overseas. And they are a reminder to international investors in Chinese companies about the regulatory curveballs that can sometimes come hurtling their way.