Recently, the “Clubhouse” App has become popular among Apple phone users, in which you can say whatever you want, accidentally leading to cross-strait exchanges and discussion of Xinjiang, Hong Kong issues in the theme room, attracting a large number of Chinese netizens to use. However, some experts warned that its headquarters in Shanghai, behind the suspicion of Chinese capital, fears involved in monitoring risks, most likely a “fishing” concept, and then follow the road to catch people, and in addition, the voice messages above, can become “delusional” Chinese Communist authorities in court.
Reuters reported on July 7 that chat rooms discussing ethnic identity and other sensitive topics have become an online “haven” for Chinese netizens to discuss their views without censorship. In several of Clubhouse’s Chinese-language “clubs,” thousands of users listened to audio discussions on topics ranging from Xinjiang internment camps and Taiwan‘s independence to Hong Kong’s national security laws.
But Clubhouse’s use of live voice chat technology from Agora, a Shanghai-based technology company, has been exposed as a privacy risk. In this regard, Hong Kong Information Technology Federation (HKITF) Honorary President Fang Baoqiao mentioned that Clubhouse users are currently on low alert, and the software uses Agora’s cloud platform to store data, so if the data is stored in the mainland, the authorities can access it at any Time according to local laws.
Hong Kong Information Technology Chamber of Commerce privacy and network security vice chairman Fan Jianwen said in an interview with Apple Daily, Clubhouse users to register their cell phone numbers, or receive an invitation code has made him feel strange, worried about privacy and security issues. He said, cell phone number and voice are sensitive information, users must be careful to protect.
The first loud voice becomes evidence of arrest
After a day of people from all walks of Life speaking freely in Clubhouse, at 7 p.m. on the 8th, some Chinese netizens reported that Clubhouse had been banned in China, and the original “invitation codes” sold on Taobao were all taken off the shelves. Now Chinese netizens have to go through a VPN wall to use it.
Political commentator Yan Jianfa, professor of business management at Jianxing University of Technology, said in an interview with the Epoch Times that “Clubhouse” allows you to say whatever you want, from which you can gather some information, which is another way to let you make a big noise first and then close the net again, which is very possible, because it comes from Shanghai, dare to do this! This is very incredible. You just offshore is another story, this is a company that belongs to the Chinese, it is impossible for anyone to dare to challenge the bottom line of the Chinese Communist Party.
Yan Jianfa said that in response to all of the above challenges, “are very worthy of reference, because they are all very possible.” Looking back at the Chinese Communist Party’s past during the Cultural Revolution, there was a history of letting you make a big noise, getting people from all walks of life to come out and speak out, and then come out and make another big arrest.
It’s just that there was no social media like there is now. But the principle is the same, he said, if you use the live voice chat technology of Agora, a technology company based in Shanghai, it is obviously controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, so you can follow the road to arrest people, so to speak, a kind of “fishing”. It is a form of “phishing,” so to speak.
“First you criticize people and things on it, and then you can follow the line to catch people, and the voice messages that everyone says on it can be turned into evidence in court.” Yan Jianfa said.
Behind Clubhouse is a very important technology driver: Agora, which is Chinese-owned and holds the core of Clubhouse’s technology. (Photo from the website)
The Hong Kong protest app is a big success, “raising the set to kill” method of siege
In the past, Hong Kong’s anti-China movement “Telegram” became a popular app for Hong Kong protesters, and was so active that it even became a target of the Chinese Communist Party’s cyber army. Through TG, Hong Kong protesters can communicate with each other instantly, disseminate information, cooperate and even make decisions, flexibly use technology tools to carry out strategic and flexible protest movements, reduce protest costs and spread risks.
“Clubhouse” is like the “Telegram” used by Hong Kong protesters before, which can call on many people. The company’s main goal is to help the public to understand more about the company’s business.
If you consider the security, generally speaking, not only the cell phone number, the invitation code can be used, because this will sooner or later be exposed to be blocked, Yan Jianfa said, reasonable doubt, this instead this is a bit like fish, “raise, set, kill” the concept.
There is a kind of fraudulent technique called “raise, snare, kill”, which is a stock market manipulation to kill retail investors and some specific medium real households. The Chinese Communist Party uses this technique to deal with Taiwanese businessmen, raising your business, trapping your capital, and after fattening it up, all the wolves rise up and kill it, and then use this concept to transport in various fields.
Big data analysis netizens: collect samples first
This wave of “Clubhouse” boom also triggered a lively discussion on the Internet. Some netizens said, “Many people shouted that it must be immediately banned by the Chinese Communist government, but it has not happened yet, and let the Chinese people talk about it, it is a bit weird.” A netizen also mentioned, “Before doing big data analysis with machine learning to collect samples a first.”
In addition, some netizens said, ‘I even think this is after ShakeYin collects information too conspicuously, turn to develop clubhouse, and then use KOLs from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, “play a little, try. Isn’t this a lot like Jitterbug, don’t lie to yourself and play a little and then delete it, but your profile being archived is a lifetime thing.’
Yi Orange Tsai, a well-known physician and Writer who has long been concerned about current affairs in politics and economics, talked on Facebook about how Chinese netizens have known for a long time that the Chinese Communist government would make free VPNs, even pretending they were developed by dissident groups, to collect and monitor what these netizens who have gone over the wall are watching, what they are saying and who they are contacting.
Relatively speaking, he said, if you hear pinky Chinese discourse on there, you also have to think about whether it’s deliberate to paint a patriotic performance of love for the party and improve your social credit score. “That’s the kind of behavioral distortion that can arise in a country with total surveillance, and it was already the case during the Cultural Revolution, when Family members could report each other and talk to friends, and that’s how you got executed.”
For this brief period of lively exchange and holding of opinions, Tsai Yi Orange appealed to users, “You just don’t have to plan to enter China, and in fact there is little chance that you will really be affected by how you speak about Taiwan independence. However, if you live in China and public security can knock on your door at any time, perhaps it would be better to think again.” He cautions, “Don’t think that a window of freedom of speech has suddenly opened, the world is not that nice.”
Clubhouse is a new social software that differs from text, image and video type of sharing, Clubhouse uses live voice chat to share topics, group conversations, share stories and exchange ideas.
Pictured here is the Clubhouse App, a voice platform (web capture)
After successfully joining Clubhouse, each user will have two opportunities to invite friends, using a phone number to send invitations to specific people. According to foreign users, when you have been using Clubhouse for a certain period of time and have reached a certain level of activity, for example, by spending time moderating a room or speaking, they can get more opportunities to send invitations.
What makes Clubhouse particularly different from other social software is that you can leave Clubhouse and use other apps, while still retaining your place in the chat room and continuing to hear the conversation and speak in the room. The concept is like having your Podcast on and still being able to do other things.
Recent Comments