2020 by the Young Diplomats Society

Evidently, misuse or disruption in Zoom can result in significant
inconvenience or loss for thousands of individuals and
businesses, and it poses a potential risk to national security.
US intelligence and security agencies have warned of the risk
of hackers exploiting weaknesses in the videoconferencing
software to conduct surveillance on high-value targets, steal
sensitive information, conduct follow-up espionage operations
against individuals and businesses, and engage in extortion.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS
Although Zoom’s cybersecurity and privacy vulnerabilities are
alone troubling, they have been overshadowed by concerns of
foreign interference and espionage - given the company’s
alleged links with China. Governments across Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US have expressed
distaste over the Chinese government’s capacity to potentially
intercept sensitive information communicated over the service.
Consequently, this issue has come to form part of the wider
debate concerning China’s growing dominance in technology
and opposing Beijing’s subversive use of advanced technology
acquisition strategies.
In June 2020, several US lawmakers requested that Zoom
clarify its relationship with the Chinese government following
news that the firm had complied with demands from the
Chinese government to suspend the accounts of US and Hong
Kong-based activists holding events related to the Tiananmen
Square massacre. Zoom responded that its decision to
suspend accounts was to comply with Chinese law. The
decision to censor individuals residing in the US, beyond the
jurisdiction of the Chinese government, contributed to the view
that the company prioritises the interests of the Chinese
government over human rights and freedom of speech. The
public’s focus has centred upon the nationality and background
of Zoom’s founder Eric Yuan, generating rumours questioning
his loyalties. Yuan gave a public statement in May clarifying
that he had lived in the US since 1997 and had adopted US
citizenship in 2007, while providing assurances that Zoom is a
fully American company.
While Zoom’s headquarters are based in California, its main
applications have been developed, in part, by several Chinese
companies all known as Ruanshi Software. Two of these
companies are owned by Zoom, but another is owned by an
unknown company named American Cloud Video Software
Technology. Zoom has approximately 700 research and
development employees in China in a bid to reduce operating
expenses and improve business margins. These factors are a
cause for concern, given the purported degree of authority
exercised by the CCP over mainland Chinese companies, and
the routine embedding of government officials within mainland
private tech companies.
The apparent routing of Zoom calls from non-China users
through China has also fuelled unease over security and
privacy, given the applicability of Chinese law and lack of strict
data privacy laws in China. Under the 2015 National Security
Law, the Chinese government requires that key internet and
information systems be “secure and controllable”. The law
provides a legal foundation for the comprehensive
management of internet activities within China’s territory,
where such activities can undermine Beijing’s cyberspace
security. Further, the 2017 Cybersecurity Law compels
network operators to store select data within China and
permits government officials to conduct spot-checks on
network operations.
SUMMARY
Accentuated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
increasingly digitised nature of modern societies under the
Fourth Industrial Revolution has resulted in an increased
reliance upon information and communications technology as
an integral element of our daily lives. The capacity of Zoom
and other videoconferencing services to facilitate education
and research, banking and finance, healthcare, and
communication sectors underscores its growing importance
as critical infrastructure. Consequently, governments are
anticipated to be increasingly compelled to regulate such
services in the public’s interest.
Zoom has since acknowledged its information security
shortfalls, and taken various steps to improve and manage its
cyber jurisdictional issues. However, the controversy
surrounding the company highlights the challenges faced by
transnational corporations amid the growing balkanization of
the internet. Where online interactions and activities have
become an increasingly integral aspect of modern societies,
nation states have correspondingly sought to expand their
control of online activities. This has given rise to the creation
and enforcement of diverse cyberspace norms across various
jurisdictions, with a significant dichotomy observed between
democratic versus authoritarian governments.
The issues surrounding Zoom thus symbolize the distinct and
differing priorities between China and the West over human
rights and civil liberties, how such priorities extend to their
actions in cyberspace, and how it impacts upon transnational
companies caught in the middle. Accordingly, this divergence
of perspectives across online spaces and technology sectors
imperils international peace and security and will contribute to
an increasingly hostile cyberspace environment.
JONATHAN LIM