In a security investigation into Chinese smartphones, it was discovered that Xiaomi devices contain a built-in function that allows the manufacturer to censor apps. The function is present, but it is not active.
Xiaomi censorship discovered
Xiaomi became the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world this year. and the brand saw its sales surge worldwide. However, that does not mean that the brand is always spared from less positive news. Xiaomi’s MIUI shell appears to contain a content filter that can censor the use of phones, writes Reuters.
In Lithuania, the cybersecurity services have investigated the software of Chinese telephones. More specifically, they examined the Huawei P40, the OnePlus 8T and the Xiaomi Mi 10T. The feature discovered by Xiaomi is called ‘MiAdBlocklist’, and it is basically a filter that can hide content in Xiaomi’s pre-installed apps, including the browser. You will then not be able to search for information about Taiwanese independence, Tibet and other topics that are sensitive in China.
To be clear, the feature is not active on phones, but Xiaomi could in principle activate it remotely. Presumably this is code that is already active in the Chinese MIUI ROMs, and is therefore also present in the MIUI ROMs for outside China. This may be unintentionally the case. We have asked Xiaomi for clarification and will add a response to this article as soon as we receive it.
What about the other phones?
The Lithuanian Researchers have not discovered anything special in the software of the OnePlus 8T. The P40 was only noted that the AppGallery searches for apps outside its own app store when Huawei does not offer them itself. Such third-party app stores can pose security risks.
Although Lithuania has not discovered any risks in OxygenOS 11 of the OnePlus 8T, it is remarkable that the country advises citizens not to buy Chinese phones. The Belgian government recently made this recommendation.
– Thanks for information from Androidworld.