Alibaba software has been accused of tracking Uyghur minorities

Allegations of repression against the Uyghur Muslim community are on the rise. One week after the breach of contract between footballer Antoine Griezmann and Chinese smartphone and telecommunications company Hawaii, Alibaba is suspected Reveals, for designing facial recognition software capable of identifying members of the religious community New York Times.

According to the daily, the Chinese Jaguar of e-commerce will be explained on its site How to use facial recognition software In order to identify Uighurs or other ethnic minorities in photos and videos. The texts in question have been removed from the web by the group. Prior to that, the documents were consulted by the American research firm IPVM, which sent them to American journalists.

“The reference to ethnic origin refers to a characteristic / function used in a testing environment that will see how far our technological capabilities can go,” Alibaba backed AFP on Thursday. “It was never used Outside of this testing environment“, Assured the company.

A minority under close surveillance

In the Xinjiang (north-western) region, Beijing has been pursuing a policy of repression for years after a series of brutal attacks, carried out against civilians and blamed by Uighur separatists and Islamists. The regime has significantly strengthened surveillance By increasing identity checks, building entrances, face recognition cameras, passport seizures, DNA collection and police roadblocks.

Many foreign experts allege that at least one million Muslim officials are staying in the area in the northwest of the country. “Re-education Camps”. For its part, the government defends itself and refers to “vocational training centers” aimed at protecting people from religious extremism.

Last week, Huawei was accused of testing Uyghur facial and ethnic authentication software by the same IPVM company. In support of the Chinese Muslim minority, the F.C. Barcelona’s French striker decided Violate his contract From the group, he has been the ambassador since 2017.

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