Facebook and Twitter “Stop providing data to Hong Kong authorities”

As China introduces the National Safety Maintenance Act in Hong Kong, US technology companies are making statements one after another. Among them, Internet companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter announced that they would temporarily suspend provision of user data to the Hong Kong authorities. Apple also said it would investigate the National Safety Maintenance Act.

Facebook issued a statement saying that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and that it supports the right of people to express without threatening safety or fear of retaliation. In addition, it will temporarily suspend the provision of user data to Hong Kong authorities until an official human rights due diligence and investigation into the National Security Act with human rights experts are conducted. It is said that WhatsApp, a messenger app affiliated with Facebook, is also targeted.

Twitter and Google also announced that they would temporarily suspend the provision of all data and information to the Hong Kong authorities immediately after the law came into force. Among them, Twitter said in a statement that it is reviewing the law in order to determine the scope of its brief because the Chinese National Safety Maintenance Act was passed shortly after the first publication of its contents, but some of the legal conditions are ambiguous and there is no clear definition.

The State Security Act, enforced by the Chinese government on June 30, strengthens Internet regulations in Hong Kong, empowers authorities to intercept communications, investigate without court warrants, and request data from foreign companies. In other words, the above technology companies are taking considerable risks by temporarily or temporarily refusing to provide user data.

In response, Apple says it will investigate the law. According to reports, Apple has always requested data submission requests from local law enforcement agencies to be made through a criminal cooperation treaty between the United States and Hong Kong. Of course, for Apple, as China is a huge iPhone market and the world’s largest factory, it may be difficult to reveal a bolder attitude than other technology companies. However, if you are actually asked to submit your iCloud data without a warrant from the Hong Kong authorities, you may have to make a difficult decision. Related information can be found here .