【明報專訊】This year the sales volumes at an online shopping festival in mainland China reached 800 billion yuan. The huge business generated by some specific online platforms is the envy of the world. However, as the market is monopolised by online business platforms, the rights and interests of MSMEs and consumers are harmed. The government has proposed strict measures to regulate the ways online platforms do business. Such an idea per se is worthy of our support. However, the way and timing of the introductory regulations have met with criticisms. The unpredictable factors created by the government will increase investment risks, leading to higher investment costs which will ultimately be shouldered by consumers whose gains will be outweighed by their losses.