A leading U.S. Democrat on China policy has called on an American web hosting company not to comply with requests from Hong Kong authorities to suspend the website of a media service founded by overseas Hong Kong democracy activists.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), wrote to web services company Automattic on Monday to ensure the webpage belonging to Flow HK, an online media outlet founded by Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who are in exile, remains operational despite pressure from the Hong Kong police.
At the beginning of October, VOA revealed Flow HK to be the first overseas Hong Kong media website to be officially blocked within Hong Kong, but recent requests to remove the website internationally brought the original censorship inside China to a deeper level.
In the original notice, Hong Kong police requested that Flow HK’s website be removed for allegedly violating the Hong Kong National Security Law by promoting secessionism, subverting state power and colluding with foreign forces.
Automattic has not complied with these requests, a decision that Krishnamoorthi praises as “the correct choice,” in a letter exclusively obtained by VOA.
“Hong Kong’s effort to use its National Security Law to extraterritorially remove lawful content in the United States is unacceptable, and American companies should not help facilitate such repression,” the lawmaker said in his letter.
‘Crystal clear’ opposition
Krishnamoorthi expressed concern about what he sees as an increasing tendency of Chinese officials attempting to censor detractors abroad.
“This is not the first time the CCP has tried to use Hong Kong’s National Security Law to target overseas pro-democracy activists, and it won’t be the last. Bounties have been placed on activists, even Americans,” Krishnamoorthi told VOA.
“Congress must be crystal clear that we will not tolerate the CCP using its laws to target overseas activists, including their websites hosted here in America,” he added.
Carmen Lau, international advocacy and program associate at the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, said the Hong Kong government is more frequently using its security laws in this manner to target people outside China.
“FlowHK goes beyond just reporting news; it plays a unique role in documenting and discussing social issues,” Lau wrote to VOA. She added that the behavior of the Hong Kong government “clearly signals that the crackdown on free speech and freedom of expression is accelerating, extending beyond borders to suppress the free speech of dissidents and the diaspora.”
Flow HK was founded in early 2021 by social activists expelled from Hong Kong. “In the face of unprecedented historical trials, it explains on its website, “we who are scattered across the world are determined to maintain this unique community of Hong Kong people and pass on the flame of resistance.”
Hong Kong has internally blocked several websites related to the protests, including the Hong Kong Chronicles, which contains personal information on some Hong Kong police officers; the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council; the British human rights organization Hong Kong Watch; Taiwan’s Transitional Justice Commission; the 2021 Hong Kong Charter, composed of Hong Kong exiles; and the June 4th Memorial Museum.
Automattic, a technology company headquartered in San Francisco, provides web content management services in 92 countries and has 1,730 employees. According to its website, the company provides services for many well-known websites, social networking sites and apps, including WordPress.com, WordPress VIP, Woo, Simplenote, Newspack and Tumblr.
VOA requested comments from Automattic, the Hong Kong police and Flow HK but did not receive responses by the time of publication.