China has unveiled new powers to censor Hong Kong’s internet and access user data using its feared national security law — but US tech giants …
China has unveiled new powers to censor Hong Kong’s internet and access user data using its feared national security law — but US tech giants have put up some resistance citing rights concerns.
The online censorship plans were contained in a 116-page government document released on Monday night that also revealed expanded powers for police, allowing warrantless raids and surveillance for some national security investigations.
China imposed the law on semi-autonomous Hong Kong a week ago, targeting subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces — its wording kept secret until the moment it was enacted.
Despite assurances that only a small number of people would be targeted by the law, the new details show it is the most radical change in Hong Kong’s freedoms and rights since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.
Protesters hold up blank papers during a demonstration in a shopping mall in Hong Kong
ISAAC LAWRENCE, AFP
Late 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.
– Restore stability –
Under its handover deal with the British, Beijing promised to guarantee until at least 2047 certain liberties and autonomy not seen on the authoritarian mainland.
Years of rising concerns that China’s ruling Communist Party was steadily eroding those freedoms birthed a popular pro-democracy movement, which led to massive and often violent protests for seven months last year.
