"Excluding the Hong Kong Section"
[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The U.S. government has recommended to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) to use the Pacific submarine optical cable.
On the 17th (local time), according to Bloomberg News and others, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a press release that it recommended the FCC grant permission for the two companies to send and receive data through the "Pacific High-Speed Optical Cable Network" (PLCN).
The FCC is an independent regulatory agency within the U.S. federal government responsible for domestic and international telecommunications. PLCN is a project connecting the U.S., Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines with 12,800 km of optical communication cables to meet communication demand between the U.S. and Asia, led by Google and Meta since 2016.
However, in June last year, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended to the FCC to exclude Hong Kong from the PLCN usage section, citing concerns over Chinese information theft. In response, the two companies signed a security agreement with the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security, agreeing to exclude the Hong Kong section from PLCN usage.
Meta applied for usage approval for the U.S.-Philippines section, while Google applied for the U.S.-Taiwan section.
Furthermore, the two companies pledged to protect U.S. data security against Chinese intelligence authorities and safeguard the personal information of U.S. citizens. According to the agreement, Google and Meta must conduct annual audits on the risk of critical data leakage.
Mesh Olsen, head of the National Security Division under the Department of Justice, said, "By including conditions in the agreement considering the current threatening environment, we have enabled Google and Meta to utilize additional cable capacity while protecting the personal information of U.S. citizens and national security."
A Meta spokesperson said, "The cable system will increase internet capacity between the U.S. and the Philippines, allowing users to connect and share content," adding, "Data transmitted through the cable will be protected through advanced encryption."
Google did not issue any special comments. The Chinese Embassy in Washington also did not respond.
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