Meituan, Didi, Baidu, and China’s Big Tech erase H&M’s online presence amid Xinjiang cotton controversy
- Searches for ‘H&M’ and ‘HM’ yielded no results on China’s map applications, e-commerce sites, ride-hailing apps, and food-delivery platforms as of Friday
- Netizens also targeted other overseas brands, including Nike, Adidas and Burberry, after they issued similar statements over forced-labour in Xinjiang
A number of major Chinese tech firms have erased the virtual presence of Swedish multinational clothing retailer H&M from their platforms amid a public uproar in China over the brand’s position on the alleged use of forced labour by Xinjiang cotton producers.
Although the Chinese government has not singled out any particular company, a nationwide consumer boycott against foreign brands - including H&M, Nike, Adidas and Burberry - is sweeping the country in response to their previous statements about refusing to use Xinjiang cotton .
H&M became a key target after statements it issued last year voicing concern over allegations of forced labour to produce cotton in Xinjiang were circulated widely on social media by groups affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. Searches for “H&M” and “HM” yielded no results on China’s map applications, e-commerce sites, ride-hailing apps, and food-delivery platforms as of Friday, as the Swedish brand faced a backlash in China.
On Friday morning, an order placed for food to be delivered to an H&M store was denied by on-demand service giant Meituan. Hailing a car with an H&M store as the destination was not possible on ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing, which did not recognise the store address as being valid. Users were also not able to find H&M stores as destinations on China’s major online maps including Baidu, Tencent and AutoNavi maps.
Meituan, Didi and Baidu did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Further, H&M products were blocked for purchase on China’s leading e-commerce platforms including Taobao, owned by Alibaba Group Holding (owner of the Post), JD.com, and Pinduoduo.
However, the boycott has not affected H&M’s own social media accounts, with its presence on Tencent Holding’s all-purpose app WeChat and microblogging platform Weibo still accessible, along with the Chinese version of its website.
