China Requests Zoom to block Users

Zoom is developing a new feature that can block participants based on their geographical location.

Earlier this week, Zoom deactivated the accounts of protestors who were observing the 31st anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests in China.

The company stated that they suspended the accounts due to pressure mounting upon them from the Chinese government, however, the accounts were reactivated.

From all indications, the video conferencing platform will still comply with the demands of China with this new feature.

The purpose of the feature according to the company's blog post is to comply with requests from local authorities, when they detect illegal activities within their borders.

The company disclosed that the action will protect users' conversations outside the borders where activities are allowed.

Furthermore, the company suspended three host accounts, one in Hong Kong and two in the US.

The meeting was shut down instead of blocking the accounts. Due to the fact that they do not have the capabilities to block users by country.

“Going forward Zoom will not allow requests from the Chinese government to impact anyone outside their mainland,” the blog post said.