12-20-2020 , 12:30 AM
A senior Zoom employee falsely accused users of supporting terrorism and distributing child sexual abuse material in an effort to stop them from talking about the Tiananmen Square massacre, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In a lengthy criminal complaint, the DOJ details how the employee, Xinjiang Jin, worked to spy on and censor Zoom users across the globe. Notably, the complaint doesn't mention the popular videoconferencing company by name, however, it is clear from the document that Zoom is the company in question.
As an accompanying DOJ press release makes clear, Jin is accused of reporting straight to People's Republic of China intelligence services. His plot allegedly revolved around Zoom meetings planned for the summer of 2020. The intention of the meetings was to commemorate the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre.
At least some of the meetings were shut down by Zoom, and in a statement to the Guardian the company simply claimed it was following the law.
"We regret that a few recent meetings with participants both inside and outside of China were negatively impacted and important conversations were disrupted," the company said at the time.
When reached for comment about Friday's allegations, a Zoom spokesperson replied the company is "reviewing the filing" and would get back to us. After the publication of this article, Zoom sent a statement — and linked to a newly published blog post — which confirmed many of the DOJ's allegations.
"We terminated this individual's employment for violating company policies," reads the statement in part. "We have also placed other employees on administrative leave pending the completion of our investigation."
Source
In a lengthy criminal complaint, the DOJ details how the employee, Xinjiang Jin, worked to spy on and censor Zoom users across the globe. Notably, the complaint doesn't mention the popular videoconferencing company by name, however, it is clear from the document that Zoom is the company in question.
As an accompanying DOJ press release makes clear, Jin is accused of reporting straight to People's Republic of China intelligence services. His plot allegedly revolved around Zoom meetings planned for the summer of 2020. The intention of the meetings was to commemorate the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre.
At least some of the meetings were shut down by Zoom, and in a statement to the Guardian the company simply claimed it was following the law.
"We regret that a few recent meetings with participants both inside and outside of China were negatively impacted and important conversations were disrupted," the company said at the time.
When reached for comment about Friday's allegations, a Zoom spokesperson replied the company is "reviewing the filing" and would get back to us. After the publication of this article, Zoom sent a statement — and linked to a newly published blog post — which confirmed many of the DOJ's allegations.
"We terminated this individual's employment for violating company policies," reads the statement in part. "We have also placed other employees on administrative leave pending the completion of our investigation."
Source