Facebook, Google and Twitter are considering leaving Hong Kong. Too many risks for the National Security law
Freedom has no half measures, and when it is limited you have to consider whether to leave. Google Twitter and Facebook have privately communicated to the Hong Kong government that if the authorities change the rules relating to privacy and the protection of personal liberty, they will be forced to leave Hong Kong. The letter was sent on June 25 by the Asia Internet Coalition, an association that includes the big three along with other Asian internet companies. This happens after the repression suffered by Apple Today, the closed newspaper in which executives and journalists were arrested due to the Patriotic Law that allows anyone to be arrested for fear of collaboration with "foreign powers".
The Wall Street Journal quoted the letter as saying, "The only way for tech companies to avoid these sanctions is to refrain from investing and providing services in Hong Kong."
What concerns internet service providers is the new regulation that modifies previous privacy regulations. While since 2019 the government had limited itself to issuing removal orders for internet content defined as inconvenient or unsuitable, with this amendment to the law, the author of illegal content, that is, against the CCP, is penalized very strongly , with a fine of HK $ 10,000 and up to three years in prison. If the perpetrator was not identified, the platforms would be held responsible, with the consequence that the employees of the company would risk on their own and end up in prison. It is reported that the Hong Kong government will present the draft to the Legislative Council as soon as in July and that the second reading is expected to resume in September. If the rule is not changed the companies that provide web services would have three months to leave.
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The article Facebook, Google and Twitter consider leaving Hong Kong. Too many risks for the National Security law comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/facebook-google-e-twitter-valutano-di-lasciare-hong-kong-troppi-rischi-per-la-legge-della-sicurezza-nazionale/ on Tue, 06 Jul 2021 08:27:12 +0000.