#Newspaper

Rumours of National People’s Congress pushing “Hong Kong’s version of National Security Law” creates panic among LIHKG netizens. Many Facebook pages unable to post after the news is released. Facebook’s director says the problem was not related to National Security Law.

(21 May)After the new of National Security Law implementation in Hong Kong, at around 5 pm, no post could be released on many well-known politicians Facebook pages including the Secretary-general Demosistō Joshua Wong Chi Fung, the Civil Human Rights Front convenor Figo Chan, Hong Kong Indigenous page, Youngspiration page, etc. At that moment, some of them were preparing the post about the National Security Law, but they couldn’t release their posts, and the system showed “Sorry! Experiencing a technical problem. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.”

George Chen, Public Policy Director of Hong Kong and Taiwan, replied yesterday evening. That problem was in the whole of Asia, but not only Hong Kong. He emphasized it was not only politicians’ pages and nothing related to the National Security Law.

Since the news about the National Security Law, Hong Kong Netizens were in a panic and worried about the implementation of National Security Law and how Freedom of speech will be strangled.

“LIHKG”, a multi-category forum website based in Hong Kong, had a lot of posts on how to install a VPN. Some netizens worried this forum might be forced to shut down and posted, “LIHKG may shut down after tonight. Anything you want to say before choked into silence?” Until 8 pm, we still couldn’t enter “LIHKG”, or the speed was stuttering in browsing. It was theorized to be a DDoS attack by netizens in China.

Also, some netizens found Google didn't show any search hints related to “Yellow” today. However, there was no impact on other words like “red” or “blue”, etc. Netizens questions if it related to “Yellow Economic Circle” and denounced Google for cooperating with China for suppression. The issues persisted until the afternoon.

A netizen posted on Facebook regarding the issue of google’s search result, saying “Just tried to type #yellow in google again. Everything came back.
Mentioned previously: Netizens could find search hints for all colours such as #blue or #black. However, since yesterday, none of the search hints was shown if they type #yellow. The search hints for #yellow came back suddenly after the netizen talking about it for a day. It is weird.”

Source: The Stand News, 午夜翻牆

#Censorship #Facebook #Google #FreedomOfSpeech #NationalSecurityLaw #China

#EditorialColumn #Controlocracy
Sad or Angry? Do you Feel Blue Under the Chinese Communist Party?

If the handover in 1997 has pushed Hongkongers to a point of no return, Hongkongers do not even has a place to hide after Beijing's unilateral introduction of the national security law.

Whether you live in Hong Kong or not, the rupture between the open society and China's great wall has slipped into your life.

Populist authoritarianism is haunting the globe. An alien to the free world. This untamable alien has applied controlocracy though WeChat terrorism and censorship, spreading from the national to the international level.

Do you think this is unrelated to your country or your community? What is happening to Hong Kong proves the opposite.

Just before China's announcement of introducing the Nation Security Law in Hong Kong, two "coincidences" occured:

Google did not suggest any auto-complete results for the word "黃色" (yellow), the color of democracy in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Facebook disallowed updates when netizens tried to access the pages of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and groups.

Have we hit rock bottom? No one knows, but the future lies in your hand. The free world or China's great wall, which way do you want to avoid?

Don't you mind if the Internet blocks your favourite colour?

Image: AP
#Yellow #OneCountryOneSystem #WeChatTerrorism #StateTerrorism #ChinesePropaganda #NationalSecurityLaw #Facebook #Google #GreatWall

#Newspaper

Twitter adds former Google VP and A.I. guru Fei-Fei Li to board as it seeks to play catch up with Google and Facebook

Twitter has been relatively slow off the mark in the AI race. Recently it has appointed Stanford professor and former Google vice president Fei-Fei Li to its board as an independent director.

Fei-Fei Li was chief of AI at Google Cloud up until October 2018 when she left as a result of leaked emails relating to the controversial Project Maven project which saw Google AI used to identify drone targets from blurry drone video footage.

The project was objected by many Google employees and a petition with around 4000 signatures was later submitted to call for a clear policy that states Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology again.

A leaked email suggested Li was more concerned about how the project would affect Google’s public image instead of the ethics of the project.

Today Twitter uses AI technology to recommend tweets to its users and identify racist content, hate speech, or content from extremist groups. The company hopes that Li, one of the most respected AI leaders in the industry, could attract more top AI talents.

Full Article: CNBC
https://cnb.cx/2M2S1AO

#Twitter #AITechnology #FeifeiLi #Google

#Newspaper

Twitter Netizen question Li Fei Fei's pro-Beijing background
Cancelled many Twitter users' account

(20 May) Li Feifei, American Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) expert, joined Twitter last week. External has concern she has a close relationship with the Chinese government. Some netizens worried the China government influence Twitter. Right after a economist disclosed Li’s background, his four accounts were suspended by Twitter for review. On the other hand, Some netizens' accounts have been banned and warned after sharing some posts related to Li. Those involved have initiated a petition to the White House requesting investigation of both Twitter and Li.

Li Feifei, the former Clouds expert of Google, was on board as Independent director of Twitter last Monday (on 11 May). After that, some Twitter users sorted out some information about the network and cooperation between Li and the Chinese government. They expressed their concern that Chinese may influence Twitter to suppress opposite voices.

Netizens' concerns were not their imagination. An economist had a live on Sunday (17 May). He thought Li as an independent director was like to "let cat watch over fish" and did a review of Li's background deeply. On Tuesday (19 May), Twitter banned his accounts "Finance Cold-eye", "Cold Mountain review comment "and "Freedom wind", etc. His spare account, "Finance Cold-eye 2.0" has also been warned.

He questioned the ban of his accounts should be related to Li and complained to media that Twitter and its parent company, Google, suppressed Freedom of speech. He also listed information of other banned accounts which challenged Li before. He revealed he initiated the petition to the White House on the internet to request the investigation Chinese Communist Party(CCP) suppressing speech and Twitter banning dissident accounts quickly. He also asked to look into the cooperation between Google China Center and CCP in details via Li.

Full translation:
https://telegra.ph/Twitter-Netizen-question-Li-Fei-Feis-pro-Beijing-background-Cancelled-many-Twitter-users-account-05-30

Source: Rfa
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/li-05202020094251.html?encoding=None

#LiFeiFei #Twitter #Google #SharpPower #China #Censorship #AI #ChinaInfluence

#Newspaper

YouTube is deleting comments with two phrases that insult China’s Communist Party

//YouTube is automatically deleting comments that contain certain Chinese-language phrases related to criticism of the country’s ruling Communist Party (CCP). The company confirmed to The Verge this was happening in error and that it’s working to fix the issue.

//Comments left under videos or in live streams that contain the words “共匪” (“communist bandit”) or “五毛” (“50-cent party”) are automatically deleted in around 15 seconds, though their English language translations and Romanized Pinyin equivalents are not.

//The accidental censorship is even more puzzling considering that YouTube is currently blocked in China, giving its parent company, Google, even less reason to censor comments critical of the CCP or apply moderation systems in accordance with Chinese censorship laws.

//Google has frequently been criticized for accommodating the wishes of the CCP by censoring content. Most notably, it created a prototype search engine known as Project Dragonfly that complied with Chinese state censorship. The project, which was never deployed, is part of the company’s long-running struggles to enter the Chinese market.

//When news of Dragonfly leaked in 2018 in a report from The Intercept, Google was criticized by politicians and its own employees for selling out its principles. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in June 2019, the company said it had “terminated” the project and that it had “no plans to launch Search in China.”

Full article: The Verge, (26-May)

Further reading:
Youtube’s CEO was involved in the founding of Google
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20291
Did the CCP manipulate Google search results to spread their propaganda more effectively?
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20289

#ChineseCensorship #Youtube #Google

#Newspaper

Remove China Apps garners 1 million downloads in India, gets 4.8 stars on Google Play Store 

// Remove China Apps, an app that claims to identify and delete all the Chinese apps has crossed 1 million downloads on Google Play Store

//The app has become increasingly popular on the Play Store owing to the growing friction between India and China.

//The Remove China Apps has been rated 4.8 stars on Google Play Store and it is currently one of the top apps.

//The app went live on Google Play Store on May 17

//TikTok had a bad run on the Play Store recently when it was downvoted to 1 star recently. However, Google got rid of over 8 million negative reviews from the app and the ratings went back to 4.8. A lot of users across the country had also uninstalled the app.

//another short video making platform Mitron... was reportedly designed to take on Bytedance-owned TikTok... was downloaded more than five million times and received 4.8 ratings on Google Play Store.

Full Article: India Today, (01-Jun)

Further reading:
Google pulls ‘Remove China Apps’ from Play Store
https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/02/remove-china-apps-google-play-store/

#Google #India #TikTok #App #BoycottChineseProduct #BoycottMadeInChina

#Newspaper

China, Iran targeting presidential campaigns with hacking attempts, Google announces

//Chinese and Iranian government hackers have targeted the Gmail accounts of staffers working on the presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and President Trump, respectively

//They may do so in search of insights into the thinking of the next American leader, or as the Russians did in 2016, to obtain material that might be disclosed publicly or used to interfere in the election.

//The hackers used a common technique called “phishing,”... enabling the hacker to gain access to the target’s credentials.

//Some analysts say the greater threat is the prospect of hacking, dumping and altering information that can embarrass or disparage a candidate or damage a campaign. The hacking and leaking of Democratic emails in 2016 led to the resignations of party officials and disrupted the party convention.

//Google threat analyst Shane Huntley said on Twitter that the hacker groups involved are APT31, which is linked to the Chinese government, and APT35, which is linked to the Iranian government.

//In 2008, Chinese government hackers compromised the computer networks of then- Sens. and presidential rivals Barack Obama (Ill.) and John McCain (Ariz.). In 2012, foreign and domestic hackers tried to gain access to the campaign networks of Obama and Mitt Romney (R).

//Iran has a history of weaponizing information... after seeing the political divisions Russia exploited in 2016 through both hacking and social media operations, it might be tempted to try something similar

Full article: Washington Post, (05-Jun)

#China #Iran #PresidentialCampaign #Election #Hacking #Google #Gmail #Biden #Trump

#NetizensVoice

The grave doubts about Google and YouTube

The latest controversy comes from today that if a random code is typed in the Google search box, it will bring up the gas explosion charity dispute in Taiwan, which was used by Kuomintang to smear Chen Chu during the previous presidential election in Taiwan.

What do we see further ahead?

YouTube has been caught red-handed for automatically deleting messages containing the words "communist thief" or "fifty cent army (Wu Mao)" for a long time. According to The Verge's article, Youtube has been deleting the related comments since last October.

Related Article→
https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/137869

Last month, #GoogleTranslate has suddenly replaced Taiwan wordings with China's wordings with a "community certification" label next to them. Examples include the word “video” will be translated to “Shi Pin” (視頻; instead of “Ying Pian”, 影片) while the word “software” will be translated to “Ruan Jian” (軟件; instead of “Ruan Ti”, 軟體), to list just a few.

Related Article→
https://www.facebook.com/BerryVoice/posts/3014567928622541

Google put the blame to the Youtube incident on its algorithm, but they haven’t said a word about the translation incident. What will be the excuse of the “Chen Chu, charity fund” incident this time?

I would like to ask: How much longer do Google have to hide behind “the algorithm” explanation ? How much longer do they have to keep us quiet?

Source: Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/551090876/posts/10157093414550877/?d=n

Further reading:
Remove China Apps garners 1 million downloads in India, gets 4.8 stars on Google Play Store 
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/22143
YouTube is deleting comments with two phrases that insult China’s Communist Party
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/21939

#SharpPower #Google #GoogleTranslate #ChinaInfluence #Youtube #Taiwan

#SocialMedia #Privacy #UserData
Pompeo Praises Google, Facebook and Twitter for Refusing to Surrender User Data to Hong Kong Government
 
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed thanks to Google, Facebook and Twitter for refusing to surrender user data to the Hong Kong government.  He has also encouraged other companies to do the same.
 
At a White House press conference, Pompeo criticised Beijing for its inconsistency, "Beijing said that for 50 years they’d give the people of Hong Kong 'a high degree of autonomy.' And you all have seen what’s happened after only 23 years – empty promises made to the people of Hong Kong and to the world."
 
Many mainstream social media platforms, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and WhatsApp have recently expressed that they will stop processing requests from the Hong Kong government for user information disclosure, after Beijing's forceful implementation of the National Security Law.  
 
Source:  Stand News  #Jul8
 #Twitter #FaceBook #Google #Pompeo

#Newspaper

In Hong Kong, a Proxy Battle Over Internet Freedom Begins

//The technological Cold War between China and the United States is playing out on various fronts around the world. The trade war ensnared Chinese tech giants like #Huawei and ZTE while American companies complain of industrial policies that favor Chinese businesses. Digital controls in China have also kept companies like Google and Facebook from operating in mainland China.

//Hong Kong emerges as the front line in a global fight between the United States and China over censorship following the introduction of a draconian new security law that mandates police censorship, surveillance and can be applied to online speech across the world.

//Caught in the middle are the city’s seven million residents, online records of political debate which may now be illegal and the world’s largest internet companies which host and guard that data.

//Many big companies including #Facebook, #Google #Twitter, #Zoom, and #LinkedIn have already stated that they would temporarily stop complying with requests for user data from the Hong Kong authorities, which has amounted to over 7000 in the second half of 2019 because of protests. The police have also made numerous requests to have Google remove sensitive posts, to which Google said no.

//The Hong Kong government has responded by emphasizing the penalty for non-compliance. Based on the law, the Hong Kong authorities can dictate the way people around the world talk about the city’s politics, and employees of companies that failed to hand over user data could be arrested.

//Several local apps associated with the protest movement have already shut down. People have begun to delete their social media accounts, switched to using encrypted chat apps like Signal, and embraced coded online speech that flourishes on the heavily monitored internet of China.

//Companies, meanwhile, have the option of shifting data away from Hong Kong but it is by no means an easy task. Moving all employees out of the city would insulate firms from arrests, but it may not be feasible.

//The looming legal fights could determine whether the city falls behind China’s digital Iron Curtain or becomes a hybrid where online speech and communications are selectively policed.

The Cold War between the US and //China continues on the other hand as the US moves to ban Chinese apps that are seen as potential threats to national security.

Full Article: The New York Times
https://nyti.ms/32WaXuP

Further reading:
“Zero logs” VPN exposes millions of logs including user passwords, claims data is anonymous
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/ufo-vpn-data-exposure/

#coldwar #internetsecurity #censorship