- Chinese police use cellphone data to locate protestors who marched in Beijing.
- Demonstrators were protesting against the government’s draconian Covid regulations.
- Some protesters took security measures to avoid being located or recognized.
Chinese authorities are utilizing cellphone data to locate protestors who marched in Beijing against the government’s draconian Covid regulations.
On Sunday night, hundreds of protesters gathered near Beijing’s Liangma River to demand an end to the ongoing Covid experiments and lockdowns. Others criticized censorship and demanded more political freedom.
In the early hours of Monday, the spectacular display of dissent in the center of the Chinese capital came to an end mostly in peace. But since then, the police have called some demonstrators to ask about their participation.
The protester was asked if they went to the Liangma River on Sunday night. When they denied being there, the caller asked: “Then why did your cellphone number show up there?”
The protester was also told to report to a police station for questioning and to sign a written record. When they asked why they had to comply, the caller said it was “an order from the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau,” according to the recording.
Some protesters took security measures to avoid being located or recognized. One protester told media that she kept her phone in aero plane mode throughout the rally and that, as of Thursday afternoon, the police had not gotten in touch with her.
In China, protests over local issues sometimes happen, but the recent wave of protests is unlike anything seen since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy uprising in 1989.
Since 2012, when Chinese President Xi Jinping took office, the Communist Party has strengthened its control over all facets of society, launched a massive campaign against opposition, and established a sophisticated surveillance state.
This Tuesday, China’s security system moved quickly to quell widespread protests by maintaining a strong police presence in areas where masses had assembled over the weekend or were expected to do so.
Police searched people’s cellphones in the streets and on the subway in Shanghai, the scene of some of the most daring demonstrations, looking for apps like Twitter and Telegram that have been used by protesters despite being blocked in China or virtual private networks (VPNs) that can be used to bypass the country’s internet firewall.
According to two demonstrators who talked to Media, police also seized the smartphones of protestors who were being detained.
A demonstrator who was detained over the weekend claimed that they were instructed to give the police their phone and password as “proof.”
After having their phone taken away by cops and being informed they could pick it up a week later, they claimed they were concerned that the police would export the data on it.
Another demonstrator claimed that after they were released, authorities gave them back their phone, but the WeChat social media app and photo album had been removed.
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