America's tech giants, from Facebook to Google, could leave Hong Kong because of its new doxxing regulations, which subject tech firms to potential criminal investigations

• A group representing major US tech firms including Facebook, Google, and Twitter, have sounded the alarm on Hong Kong's doxxing laws.
• The Asia Internet Coalition said the law puts tech firms and their workers at risk.
• Under the new rules, companies can be investigated and held criminally liable for what users post.

A regional industry group that counts major US tech companies amongst its members sounded a warning to Hong Kong's government that these firms could leave the city over proposed amendments to the city's doxxing law.

The Asia Internet Coalition sent a letter to the city's government on behalf of its members, which include US tech firms like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Twitter. In particular, the group took issue with how under these new regulations, staff at these tech firms could be held criminally liable for posts made on the platforms.

The doxxing law amendments were proposed by the Hong Kong government this May and included two broad changes, per the South China Morning Post. Firstly, someone accused of doxxing could be jailed for five years and fined close to $130,000. Secondly, the laws give the government sweeping control over the web in Hong Kong, and the power to compel people and tech organizations alike to remove content and assist in criminal investigations.

"The proposal to subject such platforms to criminal liability is unnecessary and excessive," wrote the Coalition. "These platforms are just making the service available to users for posting and should not be penalized for their users' doxxing actions over which the platforms have no control."

The organization further noted that the idea that intermediaries and local subsidiaries could be subjected to criminal investigations and prosecution for doxxing was "completely disproportionate and unnecessary," arguing that the companies simply host "neutral platforms with no editorial control over the doxxing posts."

In addition, the group also wrote that the amendments to Hong Kong's doxxing law could hamper free expression in the city and criminalize "innocent acts of sharing information online."

"The only way to avoid these sanctions for technology companies would be to refrain from investing and offering the services in Hong Kong," wrote the group in the June 25 letter.

The group lists 15 members on its website, including Apple, Amazon, Line, LinkedIn, Airbnb, Grab, and Rakuten.

A spokesman for the group told Insider that the letter summarizes the industry's concerns with the privacy law, but does not mean there are immediate plans for any of the firms it represents to leave Hong Kong.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which first broke the story, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data acknowledged receipt of the letter. She told the WSJ that the new doxxing law amendments would address problems that "(test) the limits of morality and the law."

The spokeswoman noted the government's stand that the doxxing law "will not have any bearing on free speech" and would not "in any way affect foreign investment in Hong Kong."

This is the latest stumbling block US tech firms doing business in Hong Kong must contend with, especially after the Chinese government imposed a national security law on June 30 last year. Tech platforms like Telegram, Facebook, Google, and Twitter have since fended off requests for data from the Hong Kong authorities.