Security News > 2020 > July > Social media giants move to defy Hong Kong's new national security law

Social media businesses are making moves to block Hong Kong authorities from accessing their user data, days after Beijing imposed a new national security law on the territory.

Google and Twitter also said that they had paused all data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities when the national security law went into effect last week.

ByteDance's TikTok said today it would remove its app from Hong Kong's app stores in the coming days, making it the first social media company to withdraw from the city after Beijing imposed the new laws.

The moves come after China's mainland government imposed a national security law on Hong Kong last week, which many see as undermining the territory's autonomy under the "One country, two systems" formula since its handover from the British in 1997.

The Hong Kong government said on Monday the new law mandates that social media companies take down content it deems illegal, cut individuals' access to their platforms, and comply with decryption requests when a warrant is provided.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/07/07/social_media_giants_make_move/