Skype China monitors political content of all users
Washington- Skype is the latest US firm to become embroiled in controversy over its operations in China, after acknowledging that its Chinese partner had been archiving politically sensitive text messages.
The online text message and voice service owned by auction giant eBay, said that it had been unaware the internet chat of users in China was being stored on computer servers by Chinese mobile firm TOM Online.
Citizen Lab, a group of computer security experts at the University of Toronto, have revealed that TOM Online was spying on TOM-Skype users in China and collecting messages with specific keywords.
Citizen Lab said that the messages, with words such as Tibet, Communist Party or Democracy, contained internet addresses, usernames and other information which could make the senders and recipients easily identifiable.
China exercises strict control over the internet, blocking sites linked to Chinese dissidents, the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement, the Tibetan Government-in-exile. (AFP)
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