Zoom is now in the crosshairs of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Zoom is now in the crosshairs of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (Photo: Mika Baumeister/Unsplash(BY CC 2.0))

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has started an investigation against Zoom for allegedly allowing the Chinese government to meddle with its operations.

It appears that the tech industry is on the crosshairs of the U.S. government these days. Aside from targeting big tech firms like Apple, Google, and Facebook, as well as social media platforms like TikTok, it also is pointing its guns elsewhere. Reports say that the SEC is now in the process of investigating Zoom for allegedly allowing the Chinese government to meddle in its affairs. The federal agency is also closely looking at Zoom's interactions with the Chinese government and other governments all over the world.

A corporate blog post on Friday revealed that Zoom apparently caught the attention of U.S. Attorneys and the SEC. It also revealed that the company is a subject of an investigation for many months now. Launched over the summer, the investigations include examinations on how Zoom conducted itself with political parties and foreign governments, particularly that of China. A source familiar with the investigation said that U.S. federal agencies like the SEC are closely scrutinizing the company over its handling of requests made by the Chinese government.

 

Alleged Chinese government requests include information that relate to privacy and security, usage metrics, disclosures, and encryption. In relation to this, the Northern District of California issued a subpoena against Zoom, demanding the release of details of contacts between the Chinese government and Zoom employees, as well as foreign government attempts to influence the policies of Zoom as regards its US users. The SEC and US Attorneys launched the investigations after unsealing the complaint and arrest warrant against a former Zoom employee who is based in China. According to the charge sheet, Xinjiang "Julien" Jin allegedly cause the disruption of several Zoom meetings in May and June that commemorated the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

The complaint, which the SEC unsealed and based its current investigations, also alleged that Jin "willingly committed crimes, and sought to mislead others at the company," in an attempt to "assist PRC authorities censor and punish U.S. users' core political speech merely for exercising their rights to free expression." The blog post of Zoom also mentioned how the Chinese government shut down its service without any warning in September of 2019 to force the company's compliance with Chinese law. Such compliance include designating an in-house contact in charge of law enforcement requests, as well as moving China-based user data to a data center located in China. An in-house investigation conducted by Zoom determined that Jin shared some user data with Chinese authorities.