Zoom, Google, Facebook and Twitter stop processing police requests for user data in Hong Kong
Zoom has joined the growing list of tech companies that have stopped processing police requests for user data in Hong Kong while they assess a new security law and its impact on citizens' human rights.
Tech giants, including Google, Facebook and Twitter, have taken issue with the National Security Law, which prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or as foreign intervention in the city's internal affairs.
Critics see the law as Beijing's boldest step yet to erase the legal divide between the former British colony and the mainland's authoritarian Communist Party system.
Video conferencing business Zoom said in a statement that it had suspended processing requests in Hong Kong and would wait for "any potential guidance from the US government."
It follows a statement from Twitter on Monday which said it had “grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law.”
Google added it had already paused applications for information when the law came into effect last week and would continue to review the details.
Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram have also suspended providing data to authorities about users in Hong Kong.
Facebook said it would deny requests until it had conducted a review of the law that entailed "formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts".
The National Security Law has made some pro-democracy slogans, such as "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time," illegal.
The fear is that the law erodes the special freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, which has operated under a "one country, two systems" framework since China took control in 1997. That arrangement has allowed Hong Kong's people freedoms not permitted in mainland China, such as public dissent and unrestricted internet access.
TikTok on Monday said it is stopping its popular video snippet-sharing app from working in Hong Kong due to "recent events".
"In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong," TikTok said.
TikTok has consistently denied sharing any user data with authorities in China, and was adamant it did not intend to begin to agree to such requests.
The company expects to take several days to wind-down app operations in Hong Kong.
The move by the tech giants follows the introduction of a new law on Monday evening named Article 43, which impacts Hong Kong’s free access to the internet - something that has for years been largely unaffected by China’s so-called “Great Firewall” of internet censorship.
Article 43 gives police greater power to request information about people and censor offensive posts without a warrant or court order. It could see social media companies, cloud providers and telecommunication services fined or imprisoned for failing to comply with requests from officials.
Ahead of the new law, Hong Kong residents had already begun deleting social media posts relating to protests in the city because of concerns that they may be penalised.
Late on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke out against "Orwellian" moves to censor activists, schools and libraries since the law was enacted.
"Until now, Hong Kong flourished because it allowed free thinking and free speech, under an independent rule of law. No more," Pompeo said.
