Videoconferencing giant Zoom’s pledge to work with law enforcement spurs online blowback
- The remarks by Zoom chief executive Eric Yuan struck thousands of people on social media as tone-deaf amid recent marches against police brutality
- Yuan sought to assuage users’ concerns on Wednesday, saying the company was striving to ‘do the right thing’ for vulnerable groups
Zoom Video Communications chief executive Eric Yuan’s comments that the company would work with law enforcement by not encrypting free calls using the popular videoconferencing service hit a nerve with some users, drawing criticism amid nationwide protests about the role of police in the US.
Yuan, in a conference call on Tuesday, said Zoom’s efforts to provide the highest standard of digital security, called end-to-end encryption, would go to paying customers rather than the millions of people who use the app without charge for yoga classes, weddings, religious services and other social and business gatherings.
“Free users, for sure, we don’t want to give that because we also want to work together with the FBI, with local law enforcement, in case some people use Zoom for the bad purpose,” said Yuan, also the company’s founder.
a Minneapolis police officer who pinned his knee to Floyd’s neck in a video widely shared online.
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Some Zoom users vowed to dump the service and switch to competitors. Even some paying customers said they had cancelled subscriptions for the company’s app.