(Newsweek) China is drafting counterterrorism legislation that would give the government sweeping access to companies' communications. If passed, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks or months, the law could exacerbate existing tensions with Silicon Valley and the U.S.
Introduced last year but revised this week, the legislation would require companies to keep all servers and user data within China; supply the government with communications; and censor terrorism-related Internet content. Additionally, it calls for technology companies to build encryption "backdoors" and hand over the keys to the government.
"It's the equivalent of the Patriot Act on really, really strong steroids," an anonymous U.S. industry source told Reuters.
Advertisement - story continues below
