DJI might get banned next in the US

After moving to ban TikTok successful nan US, nan national authorities could target nan China-based DJI next. A report from The New York Times highlights a measure advanced by nan House of Energy and Commerce Committee past period that could crushed DJI’s fleet of drones crossed nan country.

If passed, nan Countering CCP Drones Act would adhd DJI drones to nan FCC’s database of instrumentality covered by nan Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. This bars communications instrumentality aliases services that “pose a nationalist information risk” from moving connected US networks. It besides prevents companies from utilizing national backing to acquisition banned equipment. Chinese companies specified arsenic Huawei and ZTE are already included connected nan FCC’s list.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) first introduced nan Countering CCP Drones Act in 2022. She tells nan NYT that authorities agencies person recovered that DJI provides accusation astir “critical infrastructure” successful nan US to China. “DJI presents an unacceptable nationalist information risk, and it is past clip that drones made by Communist China are removed from America.”

The authorities has already taken action against DJI before. In 2020, nan US Department of Commerce put DJI connected its Entity List, preventing US-based companies from exporting exertion to DJI. The US Treasury later added DJI to its Chinese Military-Industrial Complex database complete reports its drones are utilized to surveil China’s Muslim Uyghur minority, while nan Department of Defense put DJI connected a blacklist of its own successful 2022.

In a blog post published successful March, DJI says nan lawmakers backing nan authorities “continue to reference inaccurate and unsubstantiated allegations regarding DJI’s operations, and person amplified xenophobic narratives.” The institution besides says DJI hasn’t “engaged successful activities that break aliases maltreatment quality rights” but notes that it doesn’t person “control complete really our products are used.”

Scrutiny of Chinese-made products has only ramped up successful caller weeks. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a measure that will ban TikTok from operating successful nan US unless its Chinese genitor company, ByteDance, divests nan app successful 9 months. The House could ballot to move guardant pinch nan Countering CCP Drones Act successful nan adjacent period aliases so, according to nan NYT.