In the long run, with the regulations imposed by China in place, many tech platforms may find it untenable to stay in Hong Kong. “This is an opportunity for them to stand with their users and protect their rights against authoritarianism,” says Wang, from the Human Rights Foundation. But in so doing, tech companies risk the chance they might be blocked in the city, or get their employees arrested. Within China, many Western websites and services are already inaccessible due to government censorship.
Google, Zoom, Microsoft, and Facebook did not respond to questions about when they may resume accepting data requests from Hong Kong. In the past, US tech companies have declined a significant portion of requests they’ve received from the city’s authorities, according to their own transparency reports—a decision they could be punished for under the new national security law. In the last six months of 2019, Google received 48 requests from Hong Kong, and produced data in response to 77 percent. During the same time period, Facebook handed over data in less than half of the 236 requests it received. Tech platforms generally say they only respond to data requests if they abide by all applicable laws, such as requirements that authorities obtain a court order.
One social media company has already pulled out of Hong Kong entirely. “In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong,” a spokesperson for TikTok said in a stat ..
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