Xinjiang Jin, 39, faces up to 10 years in prison if
convicted of conspiring since January 2019 to use his company's systems to
censor speech, the US Department of Justice said.
In a complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors
said the software engineer, Zoom's main liaison with Chinese law enforcement
and intelligence, helped terminate at least four video meetings in May and
June, including some involving dissidents who survived the June 4, 1989,
student protests.
Jin allegedly fabricated violations of Zoom's terms of
service to justify his actions to his superiors.
Prosecutors also said his accomplices created fake email
accounts and Zoom accounts, including in dissidents' names, to suggest meeting
hosts and participants supported terrorism, violence and child pornography.
In a blog post, Zoom said it fired Jin for violating the San
Jose, California-based company's policies, and has placed other employees on
leave. It also said there was no indication that enterprise data was shared
with China's government.
Zoom said it is cooperating with subpoenas from federal
prosecutors in Brooklyn and northern California regarding its dealings with
China's government, and with a separate US Securities and Exchange Commission
subpoena.
Jin is not in US custody, and a lawyer for him could not be
located.
The complaint cited many communications by Jin, including
whether an account hosting a meeting with a dissident he called "a lead of
such illegal political activities" could be suspended for 24 hours
"to prevent subsequent huge influence on us?"
Jin's actions helped Chinese authorities "censor and
punish US users' core political speech merely for exercising their rights to
free expression," Acting US Attorney Seth DuCharme in Brooklyn said in a
statement.
© Reuters
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