Feds: Zoom Executive Interrupted Meetings at Direction of Chinese Communist Govt
Federal prosecutors have charged Zoom executive Zinjian Jin over his alleged efforts to restrict speech on the video conferencing platform that is critical of the Chinese government. Jin reportedly participated in an effort to shut down Zoom events about the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
According to a report by the New York Times, federal prosecutors have charged Zoom executive Zinjuan Jin over his alleged participation in an effort to shut down critics of the Chinese government. Jin, who was based out of Zoom’s office in China, was fired by the company this week after the charges were made public.
Jin reportedly logged onto Zoom events about the Tiananmen Square Massacre posing as a terrorist. Then, Jin would flag the event and have them shut down as a violation of the platform’s terms of service. Jin reportedly targeted meetings that were deemed problematic by the Chinese government.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that the Chinese government often works to undermine companies as part of an effort to advance their own agenda.
“Americans should understand that the Chinese government will not hesitate to exploit companies operating in China to further their international agenda, including repression of free speech,” Wray said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement that the Chinese government will continue to interfere with American businesses operating in China.
No company with significant business interests in China is immune from the coercive power of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party will use those within its reach to sap the tree of liberty, stifling free speech in China, the United States and elsewhere about the Party’s repression of the Chinese people. For companies with operations in China, like that here, this reality may mean executives being coopted to further repressive activity at odds with the values that have allowed that company to flourish here.”
Breitbart News reported last week that a researcher at a medical research facility in Ohio pleaded guilty after conspiring to steal trade secrets and sell them to the Chinese government.
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Link: https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/12/19/feds-zoom-executive-interrupted-meetings-at-direction-of-chinese-communist-govt/