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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1881434

Archived

Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) and ARTICLE 19 issued an analysis of the proposed Internet ID Measure in China. Although not yet adopted, if enacted, the measure will further restrict online freedom of expression and access to information, hinder the work of human rights defenders, breach international human rights standards, and risk adding to increasingly repressive internet governance norms internationally.

On 26 July, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) jointly released a draft provision, the Management Measure on National Network Identity Authentication Public Service (‘Internet ID Measure’). The Internet ID measures would require internet users to register through the MPS-developed National Network Identity Authentication Pilot Edition App (‘Internet ID App’) using their national identification card and facial recognition. Over 80 apps began trialing the new authentication system within days of the draft’s release, including 10 public service platforms and 71 commercial applications. Major platforms such as WeChat, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Taobao, and Zhaopin were among the early adopters.

‘Just like a frog in slowly heating water, citizens in China – including human rights defenders – face gradually tightening restrictions in the online space. The proposed Internet ID Measure represents another turn of the heat, expanding state control over user identity and making it easier than ever to silence dissent. UN bodies and civil society must act now and urge Beijing to abandon this and other rights-eroding internet laws,’ said Shane Yi, researcher for CHRD.

‘We have already witnessed how China’s Cybersecurity Law has influenced rising digital authoritarianism around the world, in the creeping adoption of cyber sovereignty data regulations and pro-surveillance real name registration requirements, among others. The adoption of this centralised approach to identity verification risks further emulation of repressive digital norms as China pushes to remold internet governance in its own repressive image,’ said Michael Caster, ARTICLE 19’s Head of Global China Programme.

...

The new Internet ID Measure extends centralised control over the digital spaces from the point of internet connection. When users register on the Internet ID App and use the web number and certificate to access other apps and services, they grant the government access to their entire digital trail. This centralised identity verification system effectively provides the MPS and CAC with enhanced capability to monitor China’s 1.1 billion internet users, as well as people from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other foreign nationals once they register on the Internet ID App.

Archived

Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) and ARTICLE 19 issued an analysis of the proposed Internet ID Measure in China. Although not yet adopted, if enacted, the measure will further restrict online freedom of expression and access to information, hinder the work of human rights defenders, breach international human rights standards, and risk adding to increasingly repressive internet governance norms internationally.

On 26 July, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) jointly released a draft provision, the Management Measure on National Network Identity Authentication Public Service (‘Internet ID Measure’). The Internet ID measures would require internet users to register through the MPS-developed National Network Identity Authentication Pilot Edition App (‘Internet ID App’) using their national identification card and facial recognition. Over 80 apps began trialing the new authentication system within days of the draft’s release, including 10 public service platforms and 71 commercial applications. Major platforms such as WeChat, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Taobao, and Zhaopin were among the early adopters.

‘Just like a frog in slowly heating water, citizens in China – including human rights defenders – face gradually tightening restrictions in the online space. The proposed Internet ID Measure represents another turn of the heat, expanding state control over user identity and making it easier than ever to silence dissent. UN bodies and civil society must act now and urge Beijing to abandon this and other rights-eroding internet laws,’ said Shane Yi, researcher for CHRD.

‘We have already witnessed how China’s Cybersecurity Law has influenced rising digital authoritarianism around the world, in the creeping adoption of cyber sovereignty data regulations and pro-surveillance real name registration requirements, among others. The adoption of this centralised approach to identity verification risks further emulation of repressive digital norms as China pushes to remold internet governance in its own repressive image,’ said Michael Caster, ARTICLE 19’s Head of Global China Programme.

...

The new Internet ID Measure extends centralised control over the digital spaces from the point of internet connection. When users register on the Internet ID App and use the web number and certificate to access other apps and services, they grant the government access to their entire digital trail. This centralised identity verification system effectively provides the MPS and CAC with enhanced capability to monitor China’s 1.1 billion internet users, as well as people from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other foreign nationals once they register on the Internet ID App.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1881371

Archived link

TikTok’s algorithm exhibited pro-Republican bias during 2024 U,S, presidential race, study finds

TikTok, a widely used social media platform with over a billion active users worldwide, has become a key source of news, particularly for younger audiences. This growing influence has raised concerns about potential political biases in its recommendation algorithm, especially during election cycles. A recent preprint study examined this issue by analyzing how TikTok’s algorithm recommends political content ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Using a controlled experiment involving hundreds of simulated user accounts, the study found that Republican-leaning accounts received significantly more ideologically aligned content than Democratic-leaning accounts, while Democratic-leaning accounts were more frequently exposed to opposing viewpoints.

...

“We previously conducted experiments auditing YouTube’s recommendation algorithms. This study published at PNAS Nexus demonstrated that the algorithm exhibited a left-leaning bias in the United States,” said Yasir Zaki, an assistant professor of computer science at New York University Abu Dhabi.

“Given TikTok’s widespread popularity—particularly among younger demographics—we sought to replicate this study on TikTok during the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. Another motivation was the concerns over TikTok’s Chinese ownership led many U.S. politicians to advocate for banning the platform, citing fears that its recommendation algorithm could be used to promote a political agenda.”

...

The analysis uncovered significant asymmetries in content distribution on TikTok. Republican-seeded accounts received approximately 11.8% more party-aligned recommendations compared to Democratic-seeded accounts. Democratic-seeded accounts were exposed to approximately 7.5% more opposite-party recommendations on average. These differences were consistent across all three states and could not be explained by differences in engagement metrics like likes, views, shares, comments, or followers.

“We found that TikTok’s recommendation algorithm was not neutral during the 2024 U.S. presidential elections,” explained Talal Rahwan, an associate professor of computer science at New York University Abu Dhabi. “Across all three states analyzed in our study, the platform consistently promoted more Republican-leaning content. We showed that this bias cannot be explained by factors such as video popularity and engagement metrics—key variables that typically influence recommendation algorithms.”

Further analysis showed that the bias was primarily driven by negative partisanship content, meaning content that criticizes the opposing party rather than promoting one’s own party. Both Democratic- and Republican-conditioned accounts were recommended more negative partisan content, but this was more pronounced for Republican accounts. Negative-partisanship videos were 1.78 times more likely to be recommended as an ideological mismatch relative to positive-partisanship ones.

...

Archived link

TikTok’s algorithm exhibited pro-Republican bias during 2024 U,S, presidential race, study finds

TikTok, a widely used social media platform with over a billion active users worldwide, has become a key source of news, particularly for younger audiences. This growing influence has raised concerns about potential political biases in its recommendation algorithm, especially during election cycles. A recent preprint study examined this issue by analyzing how TikTok’s algorithm recommends political content ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Using a controlled experiment involving hundreds of simulated user accounts, the study found that Republican-leaning accounts received significantly more ideologically aligned content than Democratic-leaning accounts, while Democratic-leaning accounts were more frequently exposed to opposing viewpoints.

...

“We previously conducted experiments auditing YouTube’s recommendation algorithms. This study published at PNAS Nexus demonstrated that the algorithm exhibited a left-leaning bias in the United States,” said Yasir Zaki, an assistant professor of computer science at New York University Abu Dhabi.

“Given TikTok’s widespread popularity—particularly among younger demographics—we sought to replicate this study on TikTok during the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. Another motivation was the concerns over TikTok’s Chinese ownership led many U.S. politicians to advocate for banning the platform, citing fears that its recommendation algorithm could be used to promote a political agenda.”

...

The analysis uncovered significant asymmetries in content distribution on TikTok. Republican-seeded accounts received approximately 11.8% more party-aligned recommendations compared to Democratic-seeded accounts. Democratic-seeded accounts were exposed to approximately 7.5% more opposite-party recommendations on average. These differences were consistent across all three states and could not be explained by differences in engagement metrics like likes, views, shares, comments, or followers.

“We found that TikTok’s recommendation algorithm was not neutral during the 2024 U.S. presidential elections,” explained Talal Rahwan, an associate professor of computer science at New York University Abu Dhabi. “Across all three states analyzed in our study, the platform consistently promoted more Republican-leaning content. We showed that this bias cannot be explained by factors such as video popularity and engagement metrics—key variables that typically influence recommendation algorithms.”

Further analysis showed that the bias was primarily driven by negative partisanship content, meaning content that criticizes the opposing party rather than promoting one’s own party. Both Democratic- and Republican-conditioned accounts were recommended more negative partisan content, but this was more pronounced for Republican accounts. Negative-partisanship videos were 1.78 times more likely to be recommended as an ideological mismatch relative to positive-partisanship ones.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1874059

Archived

An analysis by the China Labour Bulletin (CLB) 2024 labour data reveals a persistent disregard for workers' rights by employers, corporations, and government authorities, even as China's economic landscape shifts under the pressures of changing overseas investment, domestic demand, and evolving market structures across various sectors. Meanwhile, workers agitations in the manufacturing sector have surged to their highest levels in nearly a decade, despite a broader trend toward smaller-scale disputes, reflecting the transition to high-tech factories with fewer workers.

As companies prioritise cost-cutting measures and profitability strategies, workers' wages, social insurance, compensation, and living subsidies remain at the bottom of the list—if they are addressed at all. This growing tension underscores the widening gap between corporate interests and the basic rights of the labour force, painting a stark picture of the challenges facing workers in 2024.

In this report, CLB broadly analyses the raw data collected in our Strike Map and conducts a sector-by-sector analysis of issues affecting China’s workers and their rights.

...

Workers in the construction industry continued to see their wages remain unpaid in 2024, with residential projects being the main targets of protests. Although the Strike Map recorded fewer incidents in the construction industry in 2024 (733 incidents) than in 2023 (945 incidents), the sector continued to have the highest proportion of protests among industries. Across the country, Guangdong (134 incidents), Shandong (78) and Henan (46) – provinces that have seen significant investments in real estate and infrastructure in recent years – recorded the highest numbers of protests, a proportion similar to that in 2023 with Shanxi dropping out of the top 3. Among the types of projects targeted that CLB could identify, 50 percent were related to residential projects, around 30 percent in infrastructure projects followed by 20 percent in commercial projects.

...

CLB's Strike Map gathered information about 452 incidents in the manufacturing industry in 2024 – an increase from the previous year (438 cases) – at a time when international companies were eager to diversify their investments despite flat domestic demand. The incidents occurred mainly in the best-performing manufacturing provinces, with Guangdong witnessing a total of 166 incidents, followed by Zhejiang (63) and Jiangsu (39). While boasting of possessing the world’s biggest manufacturing economy, China’s manufacturing industry experienced another frustrating year in 2024.

...

Last year, the Strike Map recorded 148 incidents in the services industry. Protests occurred predominantly in Guangdong (29 incidents) and Henan (13) followed by Sichuan (9) and Beijing (8). Three sectors that accounted for the most cases were catering (25.8 percent; 33 incidents), sanitation (24.2 percent; 31 incidents) and retail (14.1% percent; 18 incidents). Large-scale protests staged by hundreds of workers mainly occurred in the sanitation and medical sectors.

In the catering sector, protestors targeted big and small companies including restaurants and hotels, despite the backdrop of the national economy appearing to have improved slightly [while unemployment rates have risen].

...

Of the 21 incidents recorded in the heavy industry, most occurred in the steel and metal sector (11 incidents), followed by the chemical sector (5). China recorded the highest steel exports in 2024 since 2015 but total output fell 1.7%. With the trend of urbanisation slowing down, the demand for steel for construction and infrastructure has fallen. The oversupply from steel mills as reflected in falling steel prices means competitive pressure in the sector. Market pressures along with bad management leaves workers in limbo as happened in the case of Xiangfen County XinJinShan Special Steel in Linfen. After being laid off by the steel company in late August, workers protested twice in September (13th and 27th) to demand their wages and a decent compensation plan. After financial scandals such as funds being transferred out from the company, it said it was owing debts and salaries to over 2,000 workers, according to a notice in early September.

...

Conclusion:

First, trade unions must prioritise accountability to workers. CLB’s research highlights that union chairpersons, in many instances, are corporate executives, creating a conflict of interest that prevents unions from truly representing workers. To address this, unions must actively engage with workers to understand their concerns and proactively communicate with enterprises to anticipate workplace changes that may affect workers' rights. CLB has long advocated for unions to reform their structures and practices to genuinely serve as representatives of workers, rather than reacting only after labour rights abuses occur.

Second, multinational corporations must be held accountable for labour rights violations in their supply chains. The enactment of new supply chain due diligence laws, such as Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (2023) and the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (2024), provides a framework for greater corporate responsibility. At the United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in September 2024, CLB presented its approach, demonstrating how workers in China use social media to share grievances and document labour rights violations, even in the face of internet censorship. This wealth of worker-generated information can hopefully enable companies to conduct due diligence and prevent human rights abuses in their supply chains.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1874059

Archived

An analysis by the China Labour Bulletin (CLB) 2024 labour data reveals a persistent disregard for workers' rights by employers, corporations, and government authorities, even as China's economic landscape shifts under the pressures of changing overseas investment, domestic demand, and evolving market structures across various sectors. Meanwhile, workers agitations in the manufacturing sector have surged to their highest levels in nearly a decade, despite a broader trend toward smaller-scale disputes, reflecting the transition to high-tech factories with fewer workers.

As companies prioritise cost-cutting measures and profitability strategies, workers' wages, social insurance, compensation, and living subsidies remain at the bottom of the list—if they are addressed at all. This growing tension underscores the widening gap between corporate interests and the basic rights of the labour force, painting a stark picture of the challenges facing workers in 2024.

In this report, CLB broadly analyses the raw data collected in our Strike Map and conducts a sector-by-sector analysis of issues affecting China’s workers and their rights.

...

Workers in the construction industry continued to see their wages remain unpaid in 2024, with residential projects being the main targets of protests. Although the Strike Map recorded fewer incidents in the construction industry in 2024 (733 incidents) than in 2023 (945 incidents), the sector continued to have the highest proportion of protests among industries. Across the country, Guangdong (134 incidents), Shandong (78) and Henan (46) – provinces that have seen significant investments in real estate and infrastructure in recent years – recorded the highest numbers of protests, a proportion similar to that in 2023 with Shanxi dropping out of the top 3. Among the types of projects targeted that CLB could identify, 50 percent were related to residential projects, around 30 percent in infrastructure projects followed by 20 percent in commercial projects.

...

CLB's Strike Map gathered information about 452 incidents in the manufacturing industry in 2024 – an increase from the previous year (438 cases) – at a time when international companies were eager to diversify their investments despite flat domestic demand. The incidents occurred mainly in the best-performing manufacturing provinces, with Guangdong witnessing a total of 166 incidents, followed by Zhejiang (63) and Jiangsu (39). While boasting of possessing the world’s biggest manufacturing economy, China’s manufacturing industry experienced another frustrating year in 2024.

...

Last year, the Strike Map recorded 148 incidents in the services industry. Protests occurred predominantly in Guangdong (29 incidents) and Henan (13) followed by Sichuan (9) and Beijing (8). Three sectors that accounted for the most cases were catering (25.8 percent; 33 incidents), sanitation (24.2 percent; 31 incidents) and retail (14.1% percent; 18 incidents). Large-scale protests staged by hundreds of workers mainly occurred in the sanitation and medical sectors.

In the catering sector, protestors targeted big and small companies including restaurants and hotels, despite the backdrop of the national economy appearing to have improved slightly [while unemployment rates have risen].

...

Of the 21 incidents recorded in the heavy industry, most occurred in the steel and metal sector (11 incidents), followed by the chemical sector (5). China recorded the highest steel exports in 2024 since 2015 but total output fell 1.7%. With the trend of urbanisation slowing down, the demand for steel for construction and infrastructure has fallen. The oversupply from steel mills as reflected in falling steel prices means competitive pressure in the sector. Market pressures along with bad management leaves workers in limbo as happened in the case of Xiangfen County XinJinShan Special Steel in Linfen. After being laid off by the steel company in late August, workers protested twice in September (13th and 27th) to demand their wages and a decent compensation plan. After financial scandals such as funds being transferred out from the company, it said it was owing debts and salaries to over 2,000 workers, according to a notice in early September.

...

Conclusion:

First, trade unions must prioritise accountability to workers. CLB’s research highlights that union chairpersons, in many instances, are corporate executives, creating a conflict of interest that prevents unions from truly representing workers. To address this, unions must actively engage with workers to understand their concerns and proactively communicate with enterprises to anticipate workplace changes that may affect workers' rights. CLB has long advocated for unions to reform their structures and practices to genuinely serve as representatives of workers, rather than reacting only after labour rights abuses occur.

Second, multinational corporations must be held accountable for labour rights violations in their supply chains. The enactment of new supply chain due diligence laws, such as Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (2023) and the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (2024), provides a framework for greater corporate responsibility. At the United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in September 2024, CLB presented its approach, demonstrating how workers in China use social media to share grievances and document labour rights violations, even in the face of internet censorship. This wealth of worker-generated information can hopefully enable companies to conduct due diligence and prevent human rights abuses in their supply chains.

Archived

An analysis by the China Labour Bulletin (CLB) 2024 labour data reveals a persistent disregard for workers' rights by employers, corporations, and government authorities, even as China's economic landscape shifts under the pressures of changing overseas investment, domestic demand, and evolving market structures across various sectors. Meanwhile, workers agitations in the manufacturing sector have surged to their highest levels in nearly a decade, despite a broader trend toward smaller-scale disputes, reflecting the transition to high-tech factories with fewer workers.

As companies prioritise cost-cutting measures and profitability strategies, workers' wages, social insurance, compensation, and living subsidies remain at the bottom of the list—if they are addressed at all. This growing tension underscores the widening gap between corporate interests and the basic rights of the labour force, painting a stark picture of the challenges facing workers in 2024.

In this report, CLB broadly analyses the raw data collected in our Strike Map and conducts a sector-by-sector analysis of issues affecting China’s workers and their rights.

...

Workers in the construction industry continued to see their wages remain unpaid in 2024, with residential projects being the main targets of protests. Although the Strike Map recorded fewer incidents in the construction industry in 2024 (733 incidents) than in 2023 (945 incidents), the sector continued to have the highest proportion of protests among industries. Across the country, Guangdong (134 incidents), Shandong (78) and Henan (46) – provinces that have seen significant investments in real estate and infrastructure in recent years – recorded the highest numbers of protests, a proportion similar to that in 2023 with Shanxi dropping out of the top 3. Among the types of projects targeted that CLB could identify, 50 percent were related to residential projects, around 30 percent in infrastructure projects followed by 20 percent in commercial projects.

...

CLB's Strike Map gathered information about 452 incidents in the manufacturing industry in 2024 – an increase from the previous year (438 cases) – at a time when international companies were eager to diversify their investments despite flat domestic demand. The incidents occurred mainly in the best-performing manufacturing provinces, with Guangdong witnessing a total of 166 incidents, followed by Zhejiang (63) and Jiangsu (39). While boasting of possessing the world’s biggest manufacturing economy, China’s manufacturing industry experienced another frustrating year in 2024.

...

Last year, the Strike Map recorded 148 incidents in the services industry. Protests occurred predominantly in Guangdong (29 incidents) and Henan (13) followed by Sichuan (9) and Beijing (8). Three sectors that accounted for the most cases were catering (25.8 percent; 33 incidents), sanitation (24.2 percent; 31 incidents) and retail (14.1% percent; 18 incidents). Large-scale protests staged by hundreds of workers mainly occurred in the sanitation and medical sectors.

In the catering sector, protestors targeted big and small companies including restaurants and hotels, despite the backdrop of the national economy appearing to have improved slightly [while unemployment rates have risen].

...

Of the 21 incidents recorded in the heavy industry, most occurred in the steel and metal sector (11 incidents), followed by the chemical sector (5). China recorded the highest steel exports in 2024 since 2015 but total output fell 1.7%. With the trend of urbanisation slowing down, the demand for steel for construction and infrastructure has fallen. The oversupply from steel mills as reflected in falling steel prices means competitive pressure in the sector. Market pressures along with bad management leaves workers in limbo as happened in the case of Xiangfen County XinJinShan Special Steel in Linfen. After being laid off by the steel company in late August, workers protested twice in September (13th and 27th) to demand their wages and a decent compensation plan. After financial scandals such as funds being transferred out from the company, it said it was owing debts and salaries to over 2,000 workers, according to a notice in early September.

...

Conclusion:

First, trade unions must prioritise accountability to workers. CLB’s research highlights that union chairpersons, in many instances, are corporate executives, creating a conflict of interest that prevents unions from truly representing workers. To address this, unions must actively engage with workers to understand their concerns and proactively communicate with enterprises to anticipate workplace changes that may affect workers' rights. CLB has long advocated for unions to reform their structures and practices to genuinely serve as representatives of workers, rather than reacting only after labour rights abuses occur.

Second, multinational corporations must be held accountable for labour rights violations in their supply chains. The enactment of new supply chain due diligence laws, such as Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (2023) and the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (2024), provides a framework for greater corporate responsibility. At the United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in September 2024, CLB presented its approach, demonstrating how workers in China use social media to share grievances and document labour rights violations, even in the face of internet censorship. This wealth of worker-generated information can hopefully enable companies to conduct due diligence and prevent human rights abuses in their supply chains.

Archived version

Skepticism Around DeepSeek’s Claims

DeepSeek’s assertions about its advancements have drawn significant attention, but much of it remains unverified. For a technology that allegedly leapfrogs existing capabilities, the specifics around its breakthroughs are conspicuously lacking. Transparency has always been a cornerstone for evaluating cutting-edge technologies, and until DeepSeek provides more concrete evidence, skepticism is not just warranted—it’s necessary.

Chips on the Table: Do They Have More Than We Think?

One of the most puzzling aspects of the DeepSeek story is the apparent discrepancy between the resources they claim to have and those they might actually possess. Analysts are increasingly suspicious that DeepSeek may have access to far more hardware—particularly high-performance chips—than has been publicly disclosed. If true, this could have significant implications for their capacity to train and deploy their models at scale, raising questions about how they’ve managed to secure such resources.

The Training Puzzle: Costs and Methodology

Another critical angle here is the cost and methodology behind training their purportedly groundbreaking model. Training large language models (LLMs) is notoriously expensive and resource-intensive, often running into tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. How did DeepSeek manage to foot this bill, especially given their previously disclosed financials? Additionally, there’s an elephant in the room: Did they rely on other LLMs during training? This would raise ethical and competitive concerns, as it has long been recognized as a controversial practice in the AI community. Leveraging other providers’ models for training—potentially without permission—distorts fair competition and undermines trust in the ecosystem.

Overreaction vs. Reality

The broader market response underscores the dangers of overreaction. While innovation in AI tools is undeniably exciting, we’ve seen time and again how unverified claims can lead to speculative bubbles. For investors, this is a moment to pause, ask questions, and demand clarity before assigning sky-high valuations to unproven technologies.

In summary, while Deepseek’s story is intriguing, it’s imperative to separate fact from speculation. The market needs to temper its enthusiasm and demand more transparency before awarding DeepSeek the crown of AI innovation. Until then, skepticism remains a healthy and necessary stance.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1873878

The Chinese government is maintaining severe restrictions, conditions, and controls on Uyghurs who seek to travel abroad in violation of their internationally protected right to leave the country, Human Right Watch said today. The government has permitted Uyghurs in the diaspora to make restricted visits to Xinjiang, but with the apparent aim of presenting a public image of normalcy in the region.

Since the start of the Chinese government’s abusive Strike Hard Campaign in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 2016, Chinese authorities have arbitrarily confiscated passports of Uyghurs in the region and imprisoned Uyghurs for contacting people abroad. While the authorities are now allowing some Uyghurs to apply for or are returning passports for travel internationally, they exert tight control over those who travel.

“The modest thaw in China’s travel restrictions has allowed some Uyghurs to briefly reunite with loved ones abroad after having no news for years, but the Chinese government’s travel restrictions are still used to oppress Uyghurs in Xinjiang and in the diaspora,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government continues to deny Uyghurs their right to leave the country, restrict their speech and associations when abroad, and punish them for having foreign ties.”

...

The Chinese government is maintaining severe restrictions, conditions, and controls on Uyghurs who seek to travel abroad in violation of their internationally protected right to leave the country, Human Right Watch said today. The government has permitted Uyghurs in the diaspora to make restricted visits to Xinjiang, but with the apparent aim of presenting a public image of normalcy in the region.

Since the start of the Chinese government’s abusive Strike Hard Campaign in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 2016, Chinese authorities have arbitrarily confiscated passports of Uyghurs in the region and imprisoned Uyghurs for contacting people abroad. While the authorities are now allowing some Uyghurs to apply for or are returning passports for travel internationally, they exert tight control over those who travel.

“The modest thaw in China’s travel restrictions has allowed some Uyghurs to briefly reunite with loved ones abroad after having no news for years, but the Chinese government’s travel restrictions are still used to oppress Uyghurs in Xinjiang and in the diaspora,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government continues to deny Uyghurs their right to leave the country, restrict their speech and associations when abroad, and punish them for having foreign ties.”

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1868112

A Chinese company is facing backlash after it sent staff members to photograph other employees using the toilet and later posting the compromising images on the wall of the restroom. Shenzen-based Lixun Electro-Acoustic admitted it was creepily monitoring the employees, whilst explaining the rationale behind its decision, according to a report in South China Morning Post.

The company said it undertook the surveillance to warn employees against using the bathroom for too long with few spending time smoking while others played video games.

"The staff were spending too much time in the bathroom smoking or playing games, which made other staff uncomfortable," the company said.

"Smoking in the bathroom is prohibited and the purpose is to prevent people from staying in the bathroom for long periods of time due to video games and other activities."

Notably, when the worker would not open the bathroom door for long, the other staffer would stand on the ladder and use the phone to click the pictures.

As the controversy snowballed, the company said it had taken down the photos a few hours later because "they do not look good".

...

A Chinese company is facing backlash after it sent staff members to photograph other employees using the toilet and later posting the compromising images on the wall of the restroom. Shenzen-based Lixun Electro-Acoustic admitted it was creepily monitoring the employees, whilst explaining the rationale behind its decision, according to a report in South China Morning Post.

The company said it undertook the surveillance to warn employees against using the bathroom for too long with few spending time smoking while others played video games.

"The staff were spending too much time in the bathroom smoking or playing games, which made other staff uncomfortable," the company said.

"Smoking in the bathroom is prohibited and the purpose is to prevent people from staying in the bathroom for long periods of time due to video games and other activities."

Notably, when the worker would not open the bathroom door for long, the other staffer would stand on the ladder and use the phone to click the pictures.

As the controversy snowballed, the company said it had taken down the photos a few hours later because "they do not look good".

...