Do Xiaomi phones censor unpleasant terms? After Lithuania, a Taiwanese government agency is now raising serious allegations against the Chinese smartphone manufacturer. The list of censorship terms is long – and shows a clear handwriting.
Hardly any manufacturer has benefited as much from Huawei’s forced decline as Xiaomi. Huawei, so the allegations of the US government, is an extended arm of the Chinese government. However, a report by the National Communications Commission (NCC) from Taiwan shows that Xiaomi may not be entirely free from the influence of those in power in Beijing.
Taiwanese government agency finds censorship mechanism on Xiaomi smartphone
The government agency has examined Xiaomi smartphones and, according to its own statements, discovered a censorship mechanism in the Xiaomi Mi 10T 5G (source: Taiwan News). Seven preinstalled apps are able to to censor politically explosive terms in search queries. This works via the application “MiAdBlacklisConfigur”, which acts as an internal interface to the apps, they say.
The list includes more than 2,000 words and termsaccording to the NCC. These include “Free Tibet”, “Taiwanese independence” or “Independent media in Hong Kong.” The names of Taiwanese parties or Chinese politicians are also blocked. According to the authority, users’ Internet history can also be transmitted to Chinese servers via the censorship mechanism. The mechanism should be activated for entries in English and Chinese.
In September it became known that Lithuanian authorities had discovered a similar censorship mechanism on Xiaomi smartphones.
Xiaomi has much more to offer than just smartphones:
Xiaomi denies allegations
Xiaomi itself has it NCC allegations denied. According to the smartphone manufacturer, the program only serves to protect users from “inappropriate content” such as violence, sex or hatred.