Facebook, Twitter and Google have threatened to stop offering their services in the city of Hong Kong if authorities go ahead with proposed amendments to data protection laws, reports say.
Cape Town – Facebook, Twitter, and Google have threatened to stop offering their services in the city of Hong Kong if authorities go ahead with proposed amendments to data protection laws, reports say.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the giant tech companies were “concerned that the planned rules to address doxing could put their staff at risk of criminal investigations or prosecutions related to what the firms’ users post online”.
Doxing refers to the practice of putting people’s personal information online so they can be harassed by others.
However, according to Aljazeera, the Hong Kong government has brushed off the warnings, saying that the policy amendments have been slandered and defamed by the tech companies and that these laws are only meant for illegal doxing.
The government further said that they are open to meeting up with the tech companies over the anxieties they might have over the proposed policy, the report said.
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Compiled by Sinothando Siyolo
