Citing cybersecurity risks, Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence has urged consumers all across the globe to stop using Chinese phones.
Presenting a report published by the National Cyber Security Centre under the aegis of the Ministry of National Defence, Vice Minister Margiris Abukevicius asserted that, “It is important not only to Lithuania but to all countries which use Chinese equipment- our recommendation is to not to buy these new Chinese phones because of cybersecurity risks.”
The statement by Minister came after, the National Cyber Security Centre in its cyber security assessment report claimed that China’s Xiaomi have an inborn feature that can censor terms like “Free Tibet”, “Long live Taiwan’s independence”, “The Voice of America” among others.
“This functionality has been deactivated in the European Union region but it is important to emphasise that this functionality is activated remotely by the manufacturer,” the report stated.
“It is believed that the existence of such functionality may jeopardise free access to information and limit its accessibility. It can be said that this is important not only for Lithuania but also for all countries using Xiaomi devices,” the report further added.
However, the Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has refuted the claims published in the report by National Cyber Security Centre.
The relationship between China and Lithuania recently spurted to a new low after China called Lithuania to withdraw its Ambassador from Beijing and vice-versa after Lithuania approved Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in-country using its name- Taiwanese Representative Office.
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