US tech giants face hard choices under Hong Kong's new security law | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
May 30, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2025
US tech giants face hard choices under Hong Kong's new security law

Global Economy

Reuters
08 July, 2020, 04:20 pm
Last modified: 08 July, 2020, 04:52 pm

Related News

  • Hong Kong urges universities to facilitate students after Harvard ban
  • Chinese official says US tariff aims to 'take away Hong Kong's life'
  • Hong Kong will file complaint to WTO on US tariffs, official says
  • US Postal Service suspends incoming packages from China, Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong offers bounties for six more democrats in security squeeze

US tech giants face hard choices under Hong Kong's new security law

While Hong Kong is not a significant market for firms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, they have used it as a perch to reach deep-pocketed advertisers in mainland China, where many of their services are blocked

Reuters
08 July, 2020, 04:20 pm
Last modified: 08 July, 2020, 04:52 pm
Representational Image. Photo: Reuters
Representational Image. Photo: Reuters

US tech giants face a reckoning over how Hong Kong's security law will reshape their businesses, with their suspension of processing government requests for user data a stop-gap measure as they weigh options, people close to the industry say.

While Hong Kong is not a significant market for firms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, they have used it as a perch to reach deep-pocketed advertisers in mainland China, where many of their services are blocked.

But the companies are now in the cross hairs of a national security law that gives China authority to demand that they turn over user data or censor content seen to violate the law - even when posted from abroad.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"These companies have to totally reassess the liability of having a presence in Hong Kong," Charles Mok, a legislator who represents the technology industry in Hong Kong, told Reuters.

If they refuse to cooperate with government requests, he said, authorities "could go after them and take them to court and fine them, or imprison their principals in Hong Kong".

Facebook, Google and Twitter have suspended processing government requests for user data in Hong Kong, they said on Monday, following China's imposition of the new national security law on the semi-autonomous city.

Facebook, which started operating in Hong Kong in 2010, last year opened a big new office in the city.

It sells more than $5 billion a year worth of ad space to Chinese businesses and government agencies looking to promote messages abroad, Reuters reported in January. That makes China Facebook's biggest country for revenue after the United States.

The US internet firms are no strangers to governments demands regarding content and user information, and generally say they are bound by local laws.

The companies have often used a technique known as "geo-blocking" to restrict content in a particular country without removing it altogether.

But the sweeping language of Hong Kong's new law could mean such measures won't be enough. Authorities will no longer need to get court orders before requesting assistance or information, analysts said.

Requests for data about overseas users would put the companies in an especially tough spot.

"It's a global law ... if they comply with national security law in Hong Kong then there is the problem that they may violate laws in other countries," said Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of Hong Kong's Information Technology Federation.

CONTENT QUESTION

While the US social media services are blocked in mainland China, they have operated freely in Hong Kong.

Other US internet platforms are also rich with content that is banned in mainland China and may now be judged illegal in Hong Kong.

US video streaming site Netflix, for example, carries "Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower", a 2017 documentary on activist Joshua Wong whose books were removed from Hong Kong public libraries last week.

"Ten Years", a 2015 film that has been criticised by Chinese state media for portraying a dystopian future Hong Kong under Chinese Communist Party control, is also available on its platform.

Netflix declined to comment.

Google's YouTube is a popular platform for critics of Beijing. New York-based fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui has regularly voiced support for Hong Kong protesters in his videos. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

None of these companies has yet said how they will handle requests from Hong Kong to block or remove content, and the risk of being caught in political crossfire looms large.

"The foreign content players have to rethink what they display in Hong Kong," said Duncan Clark, chairman at consultancy BDA China.

"The downside is very big if they get US senators on their backs for accommodating. Any move they make will be heavily scrutinized."

World+Biz

hong kong / US Tech Giants

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Deep depression over Bay of Bengal on 29 May. Photo: ANI
    Heavy rain, tidal surges trigger flood warnings as deep depression crosses coast
  • Powerful tidal surges from the Meghna River flooded more than 100 villages in four coastal upazilas of Lakshmipur on 29 May 2025. Photo: TBS
    Meghna tidal surge floods over 100 villages as incessant daylong rain batters Lakshmipur
  • Attackers vandalise the windows of the residence of Jatiyo Party (JaPa) Chairman GM Quader and set fire to a motorcycle in Rangpur on 29 May 2025. Photo: TBS
    Jatiyo Party chief GM Quader's Rangpur house attacked; NCP, SAD activists blamed

MOST VIEWED

  • Dhaka areas at a gridlock on Wednesday, 28 May 2025. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    BNP, Jamaat rallies: Traffic clogs Dhaka roads, including Motijheel, Paltan, Dainik Bangla intersection
  • IFIC Bank receives Tk6,000 cr in new deposits in six months
    IFIC Bank receives Tk6,000 cr in new deposits in six months
  • Mohammad Abdul Mannan, chairman FSIB Ltd. Sketch: TBS
    FSIB to bounce back soon
  • Abdul Awal Mintoo, chairman of National Bank Limited. Sketch: TBS
    'Regulatory support must for National Bank to restore depositors' confidence'
  • Md Nazrul Islam Swapan, chairman of EXIM Bank. Sketch: TBS
    Exim Bank restored depositors’ confidence, overcoming challenges
  • Mohammad Mamdudur Rashid, managing director and CEO, UCB. Sketch: TBS
    Customers’ trust and confidence fueling deposit growth at UCB

Related News

  • Hong Kong urges universities to facilitate students after Harvard ban
  • Chinese official says US tariff aims to 'take away Hong Kong's life'
  • Hong Kong will file complaint to WTO on US tariffs, official says
  • US Postal Service suspends incoming packages from China, Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong offers bounties for six more democrats in security squeeze

Features

For hundreds of small fishermen living near this delicate area, sustainable fishing is a necessity for their survival. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

World Ocean Day: Bangladesh’s ‘Silent Island’ provides a fisheries model for the future

10h | The Big Picture
The university will be OK. But will the US? Photo: Bloomberg

A weaker Harvard is a weaker America

10h | Panorama
The Botanical Garden is a refuge for plant species, both native and exotic. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

The hidden cost of 'development' in the Botanical Garden

10h | Panorama
Stillbirths in Bangladesh: A preventable public health emergency

Stillbirths in Bangladesh: A preventable public health emergency

10h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Record migrant deaths in 2024

Record migrant deaths in 2024

7h | Podcast
News of The Day, 29 MAY 2025

News of The Day, 29 MAY 2025

9h | TBS News of the day
Businesses set for relief as interim govt eyes major tax & fine cuts

Businesses set for relief as interim govt eyes major tax & fine cuts

12h | TBS Insight
Love is essential for human life

Love is essential for human life

11h | TBS Programs
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net