When Hong Kong passed its shiny novel interior security measure lawlast week , the city ’s authorities were probably expecting a flake of pushback from the local anaesthetic , who ’ve address the fresh regime everything from “ chilling ” to “ draconian ” to nothing less than the Chinese Communist Party ’s “ takeover of Hong Kong . ”
What they in all probability did n’t anticipate was underground from some of the biggest tech players around . But as spokespeople from Google , Twitter , Facebook , and Facebook - owned Whatsapptoldthe Wall Street Journal , the companies have hit pause on admit any user data requests from Hong Kong law enforcement agencies . Evidently , these companies , much like theUnited Nations , see the sweeping legislation as a potential abuse of human right hand that they want to stay as far aside from as possible .
In a financial statement , a Facebook spokesperson tell the Journal , “ We believe exemption of expression is a fundamental human right and support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other recoil . ” Whatsapp told the outlet it was “ pausing ” its cooperation “ pending further judgment of the impact of the National Security Law , including formal human - right due diligence and audience with human - rights expert . ”
Photo: Hector Retamal (Getty Images)
Google and Twitter both told the Journal they had end sprain over user data point to Hong Kong authorities after the jurisprudence went into burden on June 30 .
The law mistily criminalizes terrorist act , corruption of the state , and collusion with a foreign tycoon and carries sentence as harsh as animation in prison , providing government authorization with sweeping power to stamp out the pro - democracy objection that have been occupy lieu in Hong Kong for more than a twelvemonth .
Regardless of whether the Silicon Valley rack is just a snatch at some practiced press all of the tech giant , peculiarly Facebook , desperately need mighty now , it ’s still a standstill that ready Bejing ’s dream of a turning Hong Kong into a full - on surveillance state that much heavily to attest , if only because of the platforms involved . Over the preceding year , Twitter hasbecomethe app of choice among Hong Kong ’s protestors , even as the app ’s popularitylagsbehind apps used in mainland China . Meanwhile , Facebook and Whatsapp are among Hong Kong’smost popular appsin general , with the city boastingmore than4 million Facebook die - hards across the city .
Anyone protest on the streets of Hong Kong will probably have something of a footprint on all three of these platforms , and under the way the new mandates are currently written , law enforcement official in the metropolis should have the right toeraseportions of that footmark if they suspect that they are a “ national security ” peril , in addition to requesting private data about targeted user . The publisher and platform that do n’t comply with the lawcould facea powerful o.k. and potential time in prison .
That articulate , Facebook , TwitterandGoogleare no strangers to forking over citizen data point to the local authorities that take for it . As the Journal inside information , the latter half of 2019 attend Hong Kong authority hit Facebook with more than 240 request for data on users in Hong Kong , and the company drudged up that data for just under half of those requests .
It ’s also worth pointing out that this posture these companies are taking is n’t just one that ’s good for human rights — it ’s also good for business . Since Bejing passed these regulations last workweek , citizens that are in particular horrendous of the unexampled authoritarian power have beenquietly scrubbingtheir mien off these platforms , if not empty them wholly . Taking a pro - protester rack could keep these platform from bleeding user in what ’s in general agreed to be ahyper - connectedand hyper - profitable market place .
Even if they ’re taking the gamey road for profit or destitute press , this might be one of those cases where the ends justify the means — at least as far as human rights are occupy .
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