U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and other lawmakers said in a letter that they were concerned about reports that the Chinese government had promised American athletes "free" access to social media platforms and other websites in the Olympic Village. | facebook.com/replahood
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and other lawmakers said in a letter that they were concerned about reports that the Chinese government had promised American athletes "free" access to social media platforms and other websites in the Olympic Village. | facebook.com/replahood
As American athletes prepare to head to Beijing to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics next month, federal lawmakers are urging the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to protect them while they are in China.
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) joined several of his colleagues on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in sending a letter to the USOPC.
"I joined my House Intel Committee colleagues @RepBradWenstrup, @CongressmanRaja, and @RepJasonCrow to urge the US Olympic Committee to take additional steps to protect US athletes from China's efforts to suppress free speech and mine their personal data at the 2022 Winter Games," LaHood wrote in a tweet.
In the letter dated Jan. 20, the lawmakers said they were concerned about reports that the Chinese Government had promised American athletes "free" access to social media platforms and other websites in the Olympic Village.
"We are keenly aware of the threat that the Chinese government poses to data security as well as a free and open internet," the letter stated. "We are concerned that offers from the Chinese government to open their internet censorship regime, also known as the 'Great Firewall' for the Winter Olympics — something the CCP refuses to do for their own citizens when the eyes of the world are not watching — will give our athletes a false sense of security."
LaHood, along with fellow representatives Brad Wenstrup, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Jason Crow, urged the USOPC to do what they could to make sure the privacy and security of data for the athletes attending the games was protected.
"We are proud of our U.S. athletes for their hard-earned accomplishments, but we are also concerned about their well-being while in China," the letter added.
The New York Times has reported a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Games, with government officials from the U.S., Australia, Britain, and Canada all refusing to attend.
The Los Angeles Times noted in a December 2021 report that there had been two candidates to host the Winter Olympics this year-Beijing, and a city in Kazakhstan called Almaty. Beijing won the vote by a slim margin.
China has warned that the U.S. will "pay a price" for its diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games, according to a report by Deadline.
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