This archive report was first published on 6 July 2020.
Published on July 6, 2020, Facebook announced it would temporarily stop processing Hong Kong government requests for user data as it reviews the city's new national security law.
The law, which has already been used to arrest people who have called for Hong Kong independence, has raised concerns about how it will be applied online in Hong Kong, where the internet is not censored as it is in the rest of China.
Facebook's move is a rare public questioning of Chinese policy by a large American internet company, and it raises questions about how the security law will be applied online in Hong Kong.
Facebook's decision will also put pressure on other American tech giants like Apple and Google, which have not yet clarified how they intend to deal with data requests related to the national security law.
Twitter said it paused all data and information requests from the Hong Kong authorities immediately after the law went into effect last week.
Telegram, a messaging app popular with Hong Kong's protesters, said it would suspend the provision of user data until a consensus was reached on the new law.
Facebook's move comes as Hong Kong released new rules that give the police powers to take down internet posts and punish internet companies that do not comply with data requests.
The national security law, adopted in part to quash the anti-government demonstrations that have smoldered in Hong Kong for more than a year, has been criticized for its broad and punitive provisions.
