Social media giants block release of data to Hong Kong authorities

Google, Facebook and Twitter have suspended processing requests for user data from Hong Kong authorities.

Riot police warn protesters demonstrating against Hong Kong’s new national security laws to disperse from a mall on Monday. Picture: AFP

Google, Facebook and Twitter are among tech companies that have suspended processing requests for user data from Hong Kong law enforcement agencies following China’s imposition of a national security law on the city.

“We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions,” a Facebook spokeswoman said on Tuesday (AEST).

Earlier, a spokeswoman for Facebook-owned WhatsApp said reviews would be paused “pending further assessment of the impact of the national security law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts”.

Twitter and Google said they paused all data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities immediately when the law went into effect last week.

The moves have put US technology titans on a potential collision course with Beijing, after China fast-tracked the national security legislation that includes a provision mandating local authorities to take measures to supervise and regulate the city’s previously unfettered internet.

Rules for implementing the new law announced by Hong Kong’s government late on Monday and set to take legal effect on Tuesday, say that if police suspect an “electronic message” may endanger “national security”, authorities may ask the publisher, platform, host or network service provider to remove or restrict access to it.

Those who publish messages and don’t comply face a hefty fine and imprisonment for a year, according to the rules.

Facebook, WhatsApp and its Instagram service, along with Twitter and Google unit YouTube, have long operated freely in Hong Kong without restrictions from China’s firewall, which applies to mainland internet users.

Citizens in the city have long been accustomed to using them to express political opinions and show support for protests against China’s increasing influence, but in recent days some users and activists have scrubbed or deleted their social media accounts for fear of falling afoul of the new law that came into force on June 30.

Foreign businesses frequently cite the free flow of information in Hong Kong as one of the most important factors for being located in the financial hub. The city’s citizens are among the most connected in the world: 91 per cent of the population use the internet, according to consulting firm We Are Social, and 98 per cent of internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 communicate by means of social media or messaging apps.

Dubai-based Telegram Group said told the Hong Kong Free Press that it doesn’t intend to process “any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city”.

Activists and advocates for internet privacy welcomed the moves announced by tech firms.

“I think it’s a good sign. They are upholding freedom of speech and user privacy,” said Francis Fong, president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation and a member of a panel for Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.

WhatsApp is popular in Hong Kong, Mr Fong said, but to discuss more sensitive matters people often use services such as Telegram or Signal.

Tech companies regularly receive requests from government entities worldwide to provide user data for uses including law enforcement or preventing serious injury or death. Facebook in the last six months of 2019 received 241 government requests for data on users in Hong Kong, according to a company report. It produced data for 46 per cent of the requests.

The volume of requests received by Facebook from Hong Kong authorities is much smaller than the more than 51,000 obtained from US authorities between last July and December. Facebook said it produced some information on 88 per cent of requests from US authorities.

The Wall Street Journal