So Zoom suspended the account of @ZhouFengSuo after he hosted a virtual vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Some context on Zoom in China: it has been on Chinese censor's radar for a while, but seems to have fallen thru the cracks. nytimes.com/2020/06/11/tec…
In Sept. 2019 Zoom was briefly blocked in China. In response a Zoom reseller posted instructions for real-name registration and said there had been a call from the Ministry of Public Security to follow the cybersecurity law. That got it out of the doghouse for the time being.
Yet as Zoom soared to prominence this year, Chinese could still get on anonymously and connect with the world. It was a bridge over the Great Firewall. For May 1, Zoom blocked unregistered Chinese accounts from being able to host meetings. They could only join as participants.
Still, unregistered accounts could join calls like Zhou's Tiananmen Vigil, which would likely be blocked on any other platform in China. It was a classic hole in the wall that came with new tech. And people used it. It's classic cat-and-mouse tactics to get around censorship.
The question is, what happens next? Zoom could block Chinese unregistered users, which hurts its business. It could block connections between China and the world, which would harm its service. Or it could censor accounts like Zhou's, which angers many and alienates US politicians
Zoom says it will protect users from censorship, but adds "for situations where local authorities block communications for participants within their borders, Zoom is developing additional capabilities that protect these conversations for participants outside of those borders.”
The strange language makes me wonder whether they're going to create a separate feedback system that could cut users inside China off calls, while keeping the calls open for people outside China. Something like that might appease Beijing. The alternative is being fully blocked.
It shows the political minefield an American company must navigate to survive China's strict censorship rules. Unclear how Zoom will fare. The fact that Zoom hosts live video communications will make China's internet regulators particularly nervous. It's tough to stay ahead of.
Whether to censor on China's behalf is a separate matter. What's interesting is Zhou used LinkedIn, which censors in China and so isn't blocked, to advertise the Zoom vigil. Still Zhou opposes such practices "an American company put Chinese-style restrictions on users in the US."
He had this to add: "The Great Firewall enslaves the Chinese people. It is the fatal flaw for an open and free internet....The best option is to tear down the Great Firewall.”
