After the TikTok ban, the US is considering its next target: DJI - a company based in China. The New York Times recently reported that a bill introduced by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last month could stop DJI drones from operating in the country.
If passed, the drone legislation would add DJI's commercial products to the FCC's list of regulated devices, as defined in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The act prohibits communications devices or services that pose a national security risk from operating on U.S. networks.
The law also prevents companies from using federal funding to buy equipment on the blacklist. Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE have long been on the FCC list.
According to The New York Times , government agencies have found that DJI is providing information about critical infrastructure in the United States to China. This poses an unacceptable national security risk, and government agencies believe it is time for Chinese-made drones to be phased out.
This is not the first time the US government has targeted DJI. In 2020, the US Department of Commerce blacklisted the Chinese company, preventing US-based companies from exporting technology to DJI.
DJI says ban would hurt entire drone ecosystem
The US Treasury Department then added DJI to the China Military-Industrial Complex list due to reports that its drones were being used to monitor the Uighur Muslim minority. And in 2022, the US Department of Defense added DJI to its own blacklist.
In a blog post in March, DJI said U.S. lawmakers were making inaccurate and unsubstantiated allegations and amplifying anti-foreign sentiment. DJI said it does not engage in human rights violations or abuses, and said it has no control over how its products are used.
ByteDance would rather shut down TikTok than sell it
This week, US President Joe Biden signed a bill banning TikTok from operating in the US unless its parent company ByteDance divests the app within nine months. As for DJI, the US House of Representatives could vote on anti-drone legislation next month.
DJI currently accounts for more than 70% of the global drone market, as its technology consistently outperforms that of its competitors. While DJI products are currently only partially banned in the US, they are still used by police departments, firefighters, and researchers, but that could change if the government decides to impose a tighter lockdown in response to the growing threat they pose.
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