Zoom caught in China censorship crossfire as meetings foiled

HONG KONG (AP) — Video app company Zoom said Thursday it regretted that some meetings involving U.S.-based Chinese dissidents were disrupted, as meanwhile a prominent Hong Kong activist said his account was blocked despite the city’s guarantees of free speech.

Zoom is headquartered in San Jose, California, but conducts much of its research and development in mainland China. Use of the virtual meetings app has skyrocketed during the pandemic.

The company confirmed reports that it had reactivated the Zoom accounts of a U.S.-based group of dissidents that were suspended after they held an online event commemorating the June 4, 1989, crackdown on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

“We regret that a few recent meetings with participants both inside and outside of China were negatively impacted and important conversations were disrupted," Zoom said in a statement.

Asked at a regular briefing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said she was not aware of issues involving Zoom.

China bans most public dissent. Adding to growing concerns that the reach of its censorship is extending ever further into semi-autonomous Hong Kong, pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-Yan said he was locked out of his paid Zoom account on May 22, before he held a live video talk featuring a fellow activist, Jimmy Sham.

Lee, who helps to organize Hong Kong's annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 crackdown, said two earlier talks that were also part of a “June 4" series of online events were held without incident. China's communist rulers promised to allow the former British colony of 7 million people civil liberties and other freedoms for at least a half-century after Beijing took control in 1997.

Some international social media companies, like Twitter and Facebook, are...