Big Tech's Moral Dilemma in China
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On June 30, 2020, Beijing unveiled and enacted its new Hong Kong national security law— a 66-article long body of legislation that critics in the West have deemed as a signal to “the end of Hong Kong.” The security law provides a framework for authorities to manage serious challenges to the governmental status quo by criminalizing any act of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign or external forces. Key points in this law include that Beijing will have power over how the law should be interpreted, people suspected of breaking the law can be wire-tapped and surveilled, and oversight of foreign non-governmental organizations and news agencies will be strengthened. Recently, a senior US state department official claimed that Big Tech companies may be complying with clandestine Chinese requests for user information held in Hong Kong. The allegation raises concerns over the handling of ethical issues by Western businesses and reflects China’s long-term plan for geographical expansion and control in the world.
Big Tech firms, like Google and Facebook, currently have access to sensitive and detailed data regarding Hong Kong citizens. If they were to provide this information to the Hong Kong government, or essentially the Chinese government, it could be weaponized to aid the Chinese government in its goal to tear down democracy and infringe on the privacy and civil rights of Hong Kong citizens. When the Hong Kong national security law went into action in June, these companies stated that they would temporarily pause compliance with any Hong Kong data requests. Although these claims have been made, skeptics question whether these Big Tech companies will stay committed to this noncompliance. Additionally, it is not certain whether these companies even have the right to alert government officials when they do get Hong Kong data requests due to the ambiguity and complexity of the Chinese legal and justice systems.
There is no concrete affirmation that Big Tech companies will not provide user data to the Chinese government, especially if they seek to expand their businesses to China. Firms may be enticed by a profit-driven incentive in China to cooperate with the mainland government. In the future, we may see large data breaches of sensitive user information from various companies, which could lead to the infringement of human rights on citizens of Hong Kong and other nations. On the other hand, the Chinese government faces a similar dilemma. If the Chinese government wants to successfully achieve its plan for Chinese companies to “go global” and integrate into Western economies, they could possibly adapt to the lack of user data sharing between corporations and governments in the West. The Chinese Communist Party may find other subtle means to use their companies to track and profile users if they made this trade-off. Or, the CCP could stand firm in its user data collection practices and severely limit the international expansion of Chinese companies. The preservation of freedom, democracy, and human rights in Hong Kong in part lies in the hands of Big Tech firms, whether they realize it or not. It is up to these companies to assess their priorities and understand the impact of business on human lives and the future of global affairs.
