German media recently reported that MediaMarkt, Germany's largest electronic retailer, removed DJI drones. On the morning of the 28th, DJI issued a Chinese statement, indicating that this was due to the fact that DJI and a large number of its partners were attacked by the water army last week. The German retailer has temporarily removed the shelves for security reasons, and the two sides are still in communication and discussion. In the statement, DJI also expressed its opposition to the war and its adherence to legal compliance.
After investigation, MediaMarkt's official twitter account was swiped by a large number of replies on March 24 with the same content, and these contents pointed to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
It turned out that on March 16, Mikhailo Fedorov, deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation of the Ukrainian government, sent an open letter to DJI on social media Twitter, claiming that "Russia uses DJI products to provide navigation for missiles", demanding that DJI stop its contacts with Russia, provide Ukraine with data on all DJI drones operating in Ukraine and shut down drones except Ukrainian users.
DJI replied in an open letter a few hours later that DJI's products were not suitable for military use and that DJI did not have user data and could not provide them. At the same time, DJI proposed that if the Ukrainian government has a clear policy, it can set up a geographical fence throughout Ukraine. But this requires the drone to update the geofence data for it to take effect. If the activated drone is always not connected to the network, the additional geofence will not take effect. DJI said it was willing to discuss the issue openly at any time, but did not receive further responses.
DJI told reporters that Fedorov may have confused civilian multi-rotor drones with large military drones that can indicate targets, and guiding targets for missiles is obviously not something that civilian drones used to take pictures can do. This inaccurate description allowed this information to spread among many netizens who did not understand DJI's products, and eventually fermented until March 24, when it began to impact the accounts of DJI overseas social platforms and the official accounts of DJI overseas partners. This leaves DJI's overseas partners, especially in Western Europe, lying innocently. MediaMarkt was also a victim of the cyber trolls attack, which was their precautionary measure while the two sides are still communicating and discussing.
Under mediaMarkt's official account, there are also German netizens who leave a message: "This is ridiculous"
DJI said that globally operating commercial companies are inevitably under pressure from different aspects in the international situation. In addition to setting up a special compliance team internally, DJI will also require upstream and downstream partners to comply with the laws and regulations of their regions and act in strict accordance with international rules, which includes the laws and regulations of all countries and regions where they have business operations. DJI has repeatedly debunked rumors to clarify that civilian drones are not suitable for military use, and is currently actively communicating and consulting with all partners to help partners solve problems together.
The following is the full text of DJI's official statement:
Last week, the social media accounts of DJI and its global partners were attacked by a coordinated water army, slandering DJI for misconduct in the international situation, which has caused trouble to the social media operations of many parties. Germany's MediaMarkt Saturn Retail Group, a long-time partner of DJI and one of the victims of this online violence, suspended DJI drone sales in e-commerce and stores on Friday for security reasons, and the two sides are still in communication and discussion about the incident.
We have reiterated many times that all DJI products are designed for civilian purposes and cannot meet the requirements of military specifications. The current accusations on overseas social platforms that DJI support the war are completely wrong. Since DJI pioneered the civilian drone industry, this technology has not only benefited global film and television workers, but also made widespread use in agriculture, security, rescue, environmental protection and other fields. More and more public services are using drone technology to save lives and make society a better place. In addition, DJI complies with applicable laws and regulations globally, and the in-house compliance team is comprised of experienced professionals to ensure that DJI's business activities are in full compliance with international rules.
DJI will, as always, work with global partners to develop civilian drone technology and continuously iterate on our products to better benefit society and serve people's production and life.
Source: Global Times