Hong Kong (AFP)

The increase in powers to censor the Internet in Hong Kong, under the new Beijing law, has raised an uproar among American social media giants, while causing the suspension of the Chinese platform TikTok in the old colony.

The most resounding announcement came Tuesday morning from the latter, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance.

"In light of recent events, we have decided to stop the TikTok app in Hong Kong," said a spokesman for AFP.

TikTok, which has nearly one billion users on the planet, will gradually reduce its Hong Kong activities in the coming days.

A few hours earlier, Facebook, Google and Twitter had announced that they would no longer respond to requests for information about their users from the government and authorities of Hong Kong.

Tuesday and Microsoft and the Zoom video conferencing application were added to the list.

At the same time, a 116-page document was released by the Hong Kong government, which under the new national security law gives the police more powers, including surveillance.

This law, imposed by the Chinese regime just a week ago, aims to suppress subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

Its contents remained secret until its promulgation.

Even if the Beijing government has assured that it will only concern a minority of people, the most recent provisions point to a radical change for Hong Kong in terms of freedoms and rights.

- "Orwellian" measurements -

After the removal of books written by supporters of democracy from libraries and schools, the document released on Monday shows that the government also intends to keep order online.

Police can monitor and delete information on the Internet if there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that it is in violation of national security law.

Companies in the sector and service providers may be forced to withdraw all information and their material may be seized.

If they refuse to comply, they will be liable to fines and a penalty of up to one year in prison.

Companies are also required to provide identification records and assistance to help decrypt data.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Fox News Monday that the United States "plans" to ban Chinese apps.

A few hours earlier, he had described as "Orwellian" the measures of this law which aims, since its entry into force, to censor pro-democracy activists, schools and libraries.

The 1997 retrocession agreement of the former British colony to China guaranteed for fifty years in Hong Kong freedoms and autonomy unknown in mainland China.

Over the years, part of the population has worried about a growing erosion of their freedoms and of China's growing power.

A pro-democracy movement has grown until last year culminating in a political crisis, with seven months of monster demonstrations, sometimes violent.

China has never hidden its desire to use the law to end the movement.

"The Hong Kong government will vigorously apply the law," said Carrie Lam, the chief executive officer appointed by Beijing, on Tuesday.

She warned the "radical" activists against any "crossing of the red line", insisting that "the consequences of a violation of this law are very serious".

- Tech discomfort -

But several American social media giants refuse to comply with future orders from the authorities.

Facebook and its WhatsApp messaging service, as well as Twitter and Google, told AFP that they would not respond to requests from the Hong Kong government in the immediate future.

"We believe that freedom of expression is a basic human right and we support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety and without fear of other repercussions," said a Facebook spokesperson.

Twitter has told AFP of its "serious concerns" about the law.

And a few hours later, TikTok therefore announced the complete cessation of its application in the semi-autonomous territory within a few days.

Many Hong Kongers were wary of this platform in the hands of Chinese owners. ByteDance has always denied sharing user data with Chinese authorities and said it has no plans to start doing so.

Since the entry into force of the new law, many Hong Kongers have hurried to erase the computer traces of their pro-democracy commitment.

© 2020 AFP