Facebook, Twitter pause review of Hong Kong requests for user data

Facebook and Twitter said Monday that they are pausing the review of Hong Kong government requests for user data as they look more closely at a controversial new national security law China imposed on the city. 

The law, which took effect last week, criminalizes “secession, subversion, organization and perpetration of terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country.” Terrorists acts include arson and damaging public transportation. Those found guilty under the law could face life imprisonment.

The unusual move shows that social networks are still trying to fully understand the law’s impact on political expression and its users. Tech companies routinely receive requests for user data from governments throughout the world, including Hong Kong, as part of criminal investigations.

Hong Kong officials say the law will only target a “small minority,” but human rights groups such as Amnesty International have raised concerns that police will use it to crack down on government critics. Hong Kong police have already arrested protesters during pro-democracy marches for allegedly violating the law, The New York Times reported. On Monday, the first person charged under the new law was denied bail by a Hong Kong Court. Tong Ying-kit, 23, has been accused of inciting separatism and terrorism after he allegedly carried a sign saying “Liberate Hong Kong” and drove his motorbike into police, Reuters reported.

The law has also prompted activists and writers to delete their social media accounts in case the government considers what they post subversive, according to The New York Times. 

“We are pausing the review of government requests for user data from Hong Kong pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts,” a Facebook spokesman said in a statement.

The pause applies to the services Facebook owns, including messaging app WhatsApp and the social network Instagram.

Twitter said they were also reviewing the new law and that the company paused data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities immediately after the law went into effect. A company spokesman said Twitter has “grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law.”

The Chinese legislature swiftly passed the law, which was drafted in secrecy, a day before the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China on July 1. 

Facebook, the world’s largest social network, receives more government requests from Hong Kong than Twitter. From July to December 2019, Facebook received 241 government requests from Hong Kong, according the company’s transparency report. From January to June 2019, Twitter received 3 information requests from Hong Kong.