CFR China Expert: US Tech Firms Should Worry About Beijing's New Anti-Terror Law

blottsie writes: In an interview with the Daily Dot on Tuesday, Adam Segal, director of the Council on Foreign Relations' Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program explained what China's new anti-terrorism law contains, what aspects of it remain uncertain, and how China's interest in encrypted technology fits into its longtime strategy of regulating speech within its borders. On the subject of Apple and Chinese relations he says: "We seem to be on a road of eventual confrontation between the Chinese government and Apple. Apple may have to make a decision about what it’s going to do to remain in the China market like lots of other companies. So far, it hasn’t been explicitly laid out that way. The Chinese government hasn’t said, 'We’re not going to allow end-to-end [encryption],' but that clearly seems to be the trend. I’m sure that U.S. tech companies that are providing [end-to-end encryption] are beginning to think that they may be facing a 'high noon at the O.K. Corral' kind of moment."

Comments

Re:Apple's implementation makes it difficult..

[93 Escort Wagon]

It seems to me that China doesn't need to confront Apple... or Google for that matter. They control the network. China can just continue to "encourage" their citizens to use state-friendly social media platforms, and continue to make it hard-to-impossible to use non-Chinese alternatives like Twitter, Whatsapp, or iMessage.