Zoom has enjoyed unprecedented growth in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, rising to stardom as it became the center of teleconferencing and virtual interactions. However, its rise is facing challenges ranging from privacy issues to Chinese government’s interference.

On Thursday, the company issued a statement acknowledging that it was pressured by the Chinese government to shut down an event commemorating the 31st anniversary of the 1989, June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Zoom acknowledged that it was repeatedly urged to shut the event down by Beijing because it goes against the country’s laws.

“In May and early June, we were notified by the Chinese government about four large, public June 4th commemoration meetings on Zoom that were being publicized on social media, including meeting details. The Chinese government informed us that this activity is illegal in China and demanded that Zoom terminate the meetings and host accounts,” the statement from Zoom said.

Zoom’s compliance with the Chinese government’s request has stirred questions on where the loyalty of the company lies in the issue of privacy and security. The development has heightened the growing scrutiny emanating from security concerns over Zoom’s ties with Beijing.

The accounts of Zhou Fengsuo, a Chinese activist based in the US, was shut down days after he hosted a memorial for the Tiananmen massacre, and Lee Cheuk-Yan, a pro-democracy activist based in Hong Kong, who has been organizing a yearly vigil for the victims of the crackdown was suspended too.

Though Zoom said it has restored the accounts, human rights and pro-democracy campaigners are concerned about the growing influence that the Chinese government is having on the tech company. The two accounts suspended are based in outside China where the Chinese laws have no jurisdiction, which suggests that Zoom, which is operational in 80 countries around the world, is under the grip of the Chinese authorities.

Zoom is among few media-tech companies of foreign origin allowed to operate in China. Others have been shut out over their refusal to play by the censorship rules of the Chinese Communist party.

The Chinese government has been in the news of misinformation dissemination recently on social media platforms that are banned in China.

On Thursday, Twitter issued a notice disclosing 32,242 accounts of state-linked operations attributed to China, Russia and Turkey. The accounts were removed for various offenses hinging on violation of the platform’s manipulation policies.

However, it seems to be a tip of the iceberg in efforts that the People’s Republic of China is making to exert influence on tech companies around the world. Zoom has unfortunately been caught up in the controversy that may jeopardize its bright future.

Yan said Zoom’s willingness to allow China to pressure it to determine who uses the video app and who doesn’t is “shameful.”

“They have restored my account but Zoom continues to kneel before the Communist party. My purpose on opening Zoom is to reach out to mainland Chinese, breaking the censorship of the Chinese Communist Party. With this policy, it defeats my original purpose,” he said, adding that he has closed down his account and asked for a refund.

Zoom said it doesn’t have the technology to block accounts from certain countries, which led to the decision to shut the Tiananmen event down. The company said it is working on the technology that will enable it to block participants by country instead of shutting them down.

Zoom said it did not give any information to China, and “will not allow the Chinese government to impact anyone outside of Mainland China,” which alluded to the concern that the Chinese government will continue to exert a measure of influence on the company. The development thus confirmed the fears of many and brewed new antitrust concern from the US authorities and human rights activists.

Wang Dan, one of the activists commemorating the Tiananmen event, and whose account was shut down twice at the request of China said the Communist Party is intensely attacking democracy and free speech around the world.

“The Chinese Communist Party is actively attacking democracy around the world. They have already started to intervene in the social system and way of life in the US. The whole world should be on alert,” he said.

On Friday, China said Twitter should take down accounts that smear China if the social media platform is serious about fighting misinformation.

With the growing effort by China to control what goes out in platforms outside China, the United States government is beginning to take interest in the activities of Zoom. Representatives Greg Walden and Cathy McMorris Rodgers wrote Zoom’s CEO Eric Yuan, asking him to explain his company’s actions. Senator Josh Hawley also asked Yuan to “pick a side between American principles and free speech, or short-term global profits and censorship.”

China researcher for Human Rights Watch, Yaqui Wang, said given that China’s laws don’t conform to international human rights standards, tech companies should come together to fight their censorship influence.

“Tech companies should stand together to resist Beijing’s censorship demands and uphold the right to freedom of expression. Otherwise, the groveling will never end,” she said.

Many see Zoom as a young company with an impeccable reputation and future to protect, and its relationship with Beijing is putting it in a position that may hurt the progress it has made so far. Experts said the last thing Zoom needs right now is a sanction from the US government as a consequence of enabling Chinese censorship.

In the latest ranking of the Best Startup Ecosystem, Nigeria dropped 12 places to 68, and also lost its 3rd position in Africa to Rwanda.

This is according to Startup Ecosystem Ranking for the year 2020. Last year, Nigeria ranked 56th in the world and 3rd in Africa, behind South Africa and Kenya. Rwanda was three places up at the 65th position while South Africa and Kenya dropped to 52nd and 62nd positions respectively.

The Startup Ecosystem Ranking is conducted through data collated from over 60,000 startups and 14,000 co-working spaces around the world. The three main metrics used in ranking are: Quantity, as in the number of startups, their quality, and the business environment in the tech ecosystem.

Lagos also dropped 28 places in city ranking, losing its number one position in Africa to Kenya’s Nairobi. Lagos ranked 99th in 2019 but fell short this time around to 127th on the chart. Nairobi also dropped 11 places to 116 in the world, while Johannesburg and Cape Town rose to 146th and 160th respectively.

Nigeria’s drop in the recent ranking has been attributed to factors relating to business environment and basic infrastructure. The quantity score used in the ranking rose from 0.11 to 0.27, while the quality score rose from 0 to 0.11. But the business score saw drastic reduction from 5.89 to 0.46, a huge loss that resulted in drop in the ranking.

The Nigerian business environment is marred by infrastructural deficiencies and poor government policies that pose a threat to growth and development of startups. It cuts across government policies and basic amenities needed for businesses to thrive.

A popular example is the ban on ride-hailing motorbikes by the Lagos State Government. Hundreds of motorbikes were thrown off the roads forcing the startup companies to shut down. It has become a trajectory that every startup in Nigeria can get caught up in, as some other state governments have implemented similar policies.

The state’s policy to ban the use of motorcycles was implemented at the detriment of businesses that lost millions of dollars as a result – there was no compensation and alternate provision.

For other startups that are allowed to operate, it is survival of the fittest. Infrastructural decay ranging from unstable electricity supply and poor internet has offered them only the opportunity to strive.

Nigeria is still struggling to distribute above 4,000 megawatts of electricity, forcing startups and all businesses to depend on power generators for electricity.

On the other hand, Nigeria,s internet service is far below the recommended 10 mpbs, at 1.5 mpbs and startups are at its mercy. Attempts to improve the situation have fallen on government’s unfavorable policies, among them, the decision of state governments to charge N4.5 million ($11,600) for the laying of a kilometer of broadband cable. It has not only spiked the cost of the poor internet service, it has also made it difficult for telcos to facilitate undersea cable network infrastructure.

Unstable foreign exchange is another difficult situation that startups have to face in Nigeria. Techtext reported how Kwese’ satellite TV was forced out of business due to the devaluation of Nigerian currency that put their revenue at loss. Nigeria is still struggling to have a unified foreign exchange that business can count on.

Currently, Nigeria has two forex rates; a government’s rate of N361/$1 and the black market rate of N387.5050/$1. To cap the woes of entrepreneurs, the government’s rate is never accessible by most of the startups and SMEs that need it, though there was N380/$1 at $20,000 per quarter rate for SMEs, it didn’t help the situation.

Last month, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said that the difficulty in accessing forex has hampered manufacturing activities in Nigeria.

“It was pretty difficult to source forex from all the available windows. Members have had problems accessing foreign currencies for five weeks due to lack of Central Bank’s interventions. The scarcity of foreign-dominated currencies is hampering the ability of local manufacturers to import raw materials, machines, and spares that are available in Nigeria,” MAN said.

In May, the Central Bank of Nigeria suspended foreign exchange sales to retail Bureau de Change currency traders. The Apex Bank said the decision was to protect the naira after its devaluation due to the impact of COVID-19 and plummeted oil revenue.

All these were the factors considered by Startup Ecosystem that resulted in the drop of Nigeria’s ranking.