Zoom admits cutting off activists' accounts in obedience to China

Zoom has admitted it suspended the accounts of human rights activists at the behest of the Chinese government and suggested it will block any further meetings that Beijing complains are illegal. “The Chinese government informed us that this activity is illegal in China and demanded that Zoom terminate the meetings and host accounts,” it said. Zoom said it had no ability to block participants from particular countries and so it ended three of the meetings and suspended or terminated the associated host accounts. The account of Zhou Fengsuo, a Chinese activist based in the US, was shut down days after he hosted a memorial for the Tiananmen crackdown. Zoom said it would no longer allow requests from Beijing to impact anyone outside of mainland China, however it was developing ways to block people from inside the country. “However we will also be able to protect these conversations for participants outside of those borders where the activity is allowed.” “We hope that one day, governments who build barriers to disconnect their people from the world and each other will recognise that they are acting against their own interests, as well as the rights of their citizens and all humanity.”