měi guó zuì gāo fǎ yuàn

美国最高法院

shěn lǐ

审理

sī kē

思科

àn

案

The U.S. Supreme Court recently held a hearing on a human rights case involving Cisco.

Several Falun Gong practitioners said that Cisco previously helped the Chinese government build a surveillance system used to identify Falun Gong practitioners so they could be arrested, detained, and harmed.

Cisco denied these accusations, saying that the company sold ordinary network equipment and did not specifically help the government persecute anyone.

This case has been going on for many years: the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in 2011, and although it was later dismissed by a court, the appeals court allowed the case to continue in 2023.

Now, the Supreme Court must decide whether U.S. companies should also be held legally responsible if the technology they provide is used by foreign governments to do bad things.

Many people are following this case because it could affect similar human rights lawsuits in the future.

The court is expected to issue a ruling this summer.