American companies operating in China are being forced to assist in censorship. This isn’t new, but it has increased recently because of China’s 18th Congress (new leader picked recently). Foreign companies face risk to their Chinese businesses by not complying, but also face repetitional risk throughout the rest of the globe by complying.

In some situations, hardware is being installed to allow forwarding of information directly to the police..

You may recall certain email cloud providers being hauled through the ringer for disclosing emails to Chinese investigators several years ago. With anti-Chinese sentiment high within the US, companies are at increased risk for receiving letters from Congressional leaders and unwanted media attention.

If you operate in China, time to begin thinking about how you will deal with these issues.