Huawei's role in the development of 'Uyghur alarm' products sparks international outcry

The revelation of Huawei’s contribution to the repression of the Uyghur Muslims has sparked international outcry against one of China’s most valuable company. Last week, the Washington Post had reported Huawei’s role in testing artificial intelligence (AI) surveillance technology that can send an “Uyghur alarm” to police after detecting a member of the group. The media outlet had also said that the Chinese firm has worked with dozens of security contractors to develop surveillance products, some of which are said to be able to identify people’s ethnicity and help suppress potential protests. 

Following the report, the backlash from the international community included that from French soccer star, Antoine Griezmann, who publicly ended his work as a Huawei brand ambassador. While taking to Instagram, the 29-year-old player said that following the “strong suspicion” that Huawei has contributed to the development of an “Uyghur alert” he is announcing the “immediate termination” of his partnership with the company. Jerome Cohen, who is a veteran China human rights legal expert also said that racial profiling and discrimination is prevalent in China. 

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He said that the country’s government is “engaging in racial profiling on a massive scale”. Further, US Senator John Thune also condemned Huawei for seeking to automate its detention and oppression of Uyghur's. While taking to Twitter, Thune said that the United States is right to sanction Beijing for human rights abuse. 

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Huawei denies allegations 

Meanwhile, Huawei representatives have refuted the allegations and said that the document used language that is “completely unacceptable”. One representative said that the report is not compatible with the values of Huawei. He added that the company’s technology is not designed to identify ethnic groups. 

However, the Washington Post noted that the products made by the Chinese company with four other partner firms were also advertised to have ethnicity-tracking capabilities. As per reports, Huawei and its partners have provided some of the surveillance products to authorities in China’s Xinjiang region, where the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have detained thousands of Uyghur Muslims, in an attempt to control and assimilate the ethnic minority group through mass “re-education” campaign. According to media reports, the Chinese government has already been using high-tech surveillance tools to monitor Uighurs, including installing hundreds of thousands of cameras in Xinjiang to identify them and spying on them through their phones. Several international human rights activists and nations have condemned China's actions. 

(With inputs from ANI) 

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