Zoom Video Communications—Zoom suspended processing Hong Kong government data requests pending human rights review of National Security Law
Following the June 2020 implementation of Hong Kong's National Security Law, Zoom announced it would suspend responding to Hong Kong government requests for user data or content removal pending a human rights review. This decision came after Zoom faced criticism for shutting down accounts of US-based activists commemorating Tiananmen Square at China's request. The Hong Kong data pause was part of Zoom's effort to establish clearer human rights standards for government requests.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | -against | primary | +1.00 |
| User Privacy | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.57)× agency (reactive ×0.75)
Evidence (1 signal)
Zoom announced suspension of Hong Kong government data requests on July 7, 2020
On July 7, 2020, Zoom announced it would suspend responding to Hong Kong government requests for user data or content removal pending a human rights review of the National Security Law. Zoom joined Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Telegram in refusing to process Hong Kong data requests. The decision came after Zoom faced criticism for shutting down accounts of US-based activists commemorating Tiananmen Square at China's request in June 2020. The pause was part of Zoom's effort to establish clearer human rights standards for government requests following the NSL's implementation.