The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is on the hunt for a former Zoom employee for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to censor virtual meetings on behalf of the Chinese government, multiple news sources reported.
The China-headquartered executive, Xinjiang Jin, is accused of aiding to disrupt at least four video meetings commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in June.
Based on a complaint, Jin was a conduit between Zoom Video Communications and the Chinese intelligence authorities. He is accused of using his position to target activists and dissidents both inside and outside China, gathering account information and terminating meetings.
While serving as Zoom "security technical leader," Jin was said to have identified users who talked about "disfavorable" political and religious subjects, then worked with other staff to prevent these users from participating in calls.
The complaint says that Jin allegedly falsified reports to company superiors that the users who spoke against the Chinese government were supporting terror groups, inciting unrest, and disseminating child pornography.
For months, Zoom has been under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and two U.S. Attorney's offices, the company disclosed in a filing. China has not commented on the case.
The California-based company said it had released information to several U.S. regulators with regard to its interactions with China and other foreign governments, including security and user privacy matters.
According to Zoom, it had "fired" the employee for infringing on company policies and had placed other employees on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal inquiry.
The 39-year old Jin, who is also known as "Julien Jin," is facing charges for conspiring to commit interstate harassment and conspiracy to transfer a means of identification, a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York shows.
He currently resides in China and is not under the custody of the U.S. government. He could face up to 10 years in prison if proven guilty of the charges.
Zoom issued an apology earlier this year for removing public commemorative events and the accounts of their hosts. At that point, the video communications company said it terminated the virtual meetings because they had a large number of participants from China, and Chinese authorities had branded the events as unlawful.
Zoom's popularity has grown tremendously during the global health crisis, with millions of people forced to remain at home as part of protocols to help curb the spread of the virus.
