Update: Xiaomi says its devices do not censor users following Lithuania report
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense has found that certain Chinese-made phones come with built-in censorship features, and recommended that consumers don't buy such gadgets and get rid of those they already own.
"Our recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible," Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius told Reuters.
Xiaomi Corp's flagship phones sold in Europe have the ability to detect and censor terms like "Free Tibet," "Long live Taiwan independence," and "democracy movement," according to Lithuania's state-run cybersecurity commission on Tuesday.
The functionality in Xiaomi's Mi 10T 5G phone software had been disabled for the "European Union region," but it can be enabled remotely at any time, according to the Defense Ministry's National Cyber Security Center.
Xiaomi did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The National Cyber Centre's investigation revealed that the Xiaomi phone was also transmitting encrypted phone usage data to a server in Singapore. The list of terms that could be blocked by the Xiaomi phone's system software, including the default Internet browser, presently includes 449 terms in Chinese and is being updated on a regular basis.
"This is important not only to Lithuania but to all countries which use Xiaomi equipment," the Centre said in the report.
The report also mentioned a security weakness was discovered in Huawei's P40 5G phone, but none was discovered in the phone of another Chinese manufacturer, OnePlus.
Lithuanian-Chinese relations have recently deteriorated. After Taiwan declared that its mission in Lithuania will be dubbed the Taiwanese Representative Office, China demanded that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador from Beijing and stated it would recall its envoy to Vilnius.
Taiwanese diplomatic missions in Europe and the U.S. refer to the city of Taipei rather than the island itself, which China claims as its own.
China's harsh retaliation against Lithuania is seen as a warning shot to other European countries considering doing the same, and it comes at a time when attitudes toward China are shifting across the EU's member nations.
Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, spoke with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte this week and expressed support for her country in the face of pressure from China.
