US video company Zoom admits shutting down user accounts to interfere with June 4 commemorations

US video company Zoom admits shutting down user accounts to interfere with June 4 commemorations

11 Jun 2020

VOA

 Washington, D.C.

中文文章附在英文下面

Several June 4 participants and human rights activists living in the United States said Thursday that their international video commemoration of the 31st anniversary of June 4, held through the video company Zoom, was disrupted by the company and that the organizer's account was briefly closed, causing the meeting to be interrupted twice.

It is suspected that Zoom was under pressure from China because June 4, more than 30 years later, is still being held by Chinese authorities tightly control what they consider a sensitive topic. A U.S. company, under pressure from the Chinese government, shut down the paid accounts of its U.S. customers, preventing their commemorative activities from going ahead. , which has caused a great deal of unease among overseas pro-democracy activists.

Reuters reports that Zoom admitted on Thursday that they noticed accounts had been shut down, but they have been restored. A spokesperson for the company said: "Like any other global company, we are required to comply with the jurisdictions in which we operate relevant laws." "If the conference spans different countries, those attending the conference in those countries are required to comply with their respective local laws."

However, the company did not explain exactly what local laws these people were violating and whether they had any contact with Chinese authorities before closing their users' accounts.

Rights activists are not satisfied with this explanation and believe that Zoom may have come under direct pressure from the Chinese Communist Party," Humanity China said in a statement.

In a statement, Humanity China noted, "If this is the case, Zoom is working with the centralized government to erase the Tiananmen Square massacre memory."

Wang Dan, a pro-democracy activist who attended this online video conference to commemorate June 4, said in a media interview, "We feel that Zoom's argument is completely untenable, how can an American company abide by the laws of the United States in the first place, and how can it district abide by the laws of other places?"

They have been contacted about the incident by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and it is his understanding that Commission co-chairman Rubio is drafting legislation to protect U.S. communications platforms from political interference by foreign governments, said Wang Dan.

Zoom is a US-based technology company with multiple R&D centers in China. The company's main business is providing cloud-based video conferencing and voice calls. During the virus pandemic, the software gained popularity among users, and people who were restricted by various precautionary measures were able to use it to contact between individuals and the company may also be business contacts between employees within the company.

The South China Morning Post quoted Lee Cheuk-yan as saying that since May 22, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HKASPDMC) had been trying to organize a global conference on China's expanding influence. His Zoom account was also closed when the discussion took place. "My account was shut down at the beginning of the discussion. I asked Zoom several times if this was political censorship, but I never got a response."

 

美国视讯公司Zoom承认关闭用户账号干扰六四纪念活动

2020年6月11日

美国之音

华盛顿 — 在美国居住的一些六四事件的参与者和人权活动人士周四表示，他们通过视讯公司Zoom举办六四31周年国际视讯纪念会的活动受到了这家公司的干扰，主办者的账户短暂关闭，致使会议两度中断。

人们怀疑Zoom公司的做法是受到了中国方面压力，因为六四虽然过去了30多年，但依然被中共当局视为敏感话题而严加控制。一家美国公司屈服于中国政府压力而关闭美国用户的付费账户，致使他们的纪念活动无法顺利进行，这在海外民运人士中间引起了很大的不安。

路透社的报道说，Zoom公司周四承认他们注意到有账号被关闭了，但后来都恢复了。该公司发言人说：“像其他任何一家全球性公司一样，我们必须遵守我们运营所在司法管辖区的相关法律。”“如果会议跨越不同国家，在这些国家参加会议的人都要遵守他们相应的地方法律。”

但是，该公司并没有解释这些人究竟违反了当地哪些法律，他们在关闭用户账户之前是否与中国当局有过接触。

维权人士对这个解释很不满意，他们认为，Zoom公司可能是受到来自中共的直接压力。

人道中国在声明中指出：“如果真是如此，Zoom就是和集权政府合作，共同抹去天安门大屠杀的记忆。”

参加这次网上视频纪念六四会议的民运人士王丹在接受媒体采访时说：“我们觉得（Zoom）这个说法完全站不住脚，美国的公司首先要遵守美国的法律，怎会区遵守其他地方的法律？”

王丹说：“美国国会与行政当局中国委员会”已就这起事件和他们取得联系，据他所知，委员会共同主席卢比奥正在起草法案，以防范美国通讯平台受到外国政府的政治干扰。

Zoom是一家总部设在美国的科技公司，在中国设有多个研发中心。该公司的主要业务是提供云视频会议和语音通话。在病毒大流行期间，这款软件得到用户的追捧，受到各种防疫措施限制的人们可以通过这种途径进行个人之间的联系，公司也可进行业务联系和公司内部员工之间的联络。

南华早报引用李卓人的话说，5月22日以来，香港支联会试图举办有关中国影响扩张的全球讨论会的时候，他的Zoom账户也给封掉了。“我的账户在讨论开始时就被关掉了。我向Zoom问过好几次，这是不是政治审查，但从来没有得到回复。”