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Xiaomi denies censoring users after Lithuania recommends avoiding Chinese smartphones
- Xiaomi said it ‘does not censor communications to or from its users’ after Lithuania said the Chinese company could turn on such a feature remotely
- Lithuania recommended this week that consumers avoid Chinese phones amid an ongoing diplomatic spat between the two countries
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China’s Xiaomi said on Wednesday that its devices do not censor users’ communications, a day after Lithuania’s Defence Ministry recommended that consumers avoid Chinese phones due to a censoring feature in the smartphone giant’s flagship phone.
The censoring capability in Xiaomi’s Mi 10T 5G phone software has been turned off for the “European Union region” but can be turned on remotely at any time, the National Cyber Security Centre said in a report on Tuesday.
In a statement sent to Reuters on Wednesday, a Xiaomi spokesman said its device “does not censor communications to or from its users”.
“Xiaomi has never and will never restrict or block any personal behaviours of our smartphone users, such as searching, calling, web browsing or the use of third-party communication software,” the statement said.
“Xiaomi fully respects and protects the legal rights of all users,” it added.
The National Cyber Centre’s report also said the Xiaomi phone was sending encrypted phone usage data to a server in Singapore, which could be against European data regulations.
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