DJI—DJI placed on US Entity List over links to Uyghur surveillance in Xinjiang and national security concerns
In December 2020, DJI was added to the US Commerce Department Entity List due to its role in enabling surveillance of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The US Army had already banned DJI drones in 2017. In 2021 the Treasury added investment restrictions, and in 2022 the DoD added DJI to its PLA-linked company list. A January 2024 CISA/FBI bulletin cited data collection risks and China's National Intelligence Law requiring company cooperation with state intelligence. DJI controls approximately 80% of the US commercial drone market. In December 2025 the FCC banned new DJI models from obtaining authorization.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | +toward | secondary | -0.50 |
| Surveillance Technology | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.885 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
US Commerce Department added DJI to Entity List citing Uyghur surveillance links and national security risks
The US placed DJI on the Commerce Department Entity List in December 2020, citing its role in enabling surveillance of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. CISA and FBI issued a joint bulletin in January 2024 detailing data security risks from DJI drones.