MIT scholar opposes U.S. Huawei ban

A ban on Huawei will not ensure the cybersecurity of the U.S. but hurt its business, consumers and scientific research, MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte wrote in an article published on fastcompany.com this week.

A logo of Huawei and signage at the company’s main UK offices in Reading, west of London, on April 29, 2019. [Photo: AFP]

“Telecommunications policy should be based on objective standards, not geopolitical issues,” said the article titled “Don't ban Huawei. Do this instead.”

Compared with the security threat the U.S. administration placed on Huawei, the real threat is that unsubstantiated accusations against Huawei will prevent the need to manage cyber risk, the article said.

“This failure may prevent the U.S. from achieving the technological and economic progress it could have made, had it chosen to look more closely at the facts. This is particularly true at places like my university, MIT, which had to stop research with Huawei, the most advanced partner we had in the telecommunications field.”

Negroponte also refuted that using Huawei's service and products brings risks.

“Huawei has an unblemished 30-year cybersecurity record and more than 500 satisfied telecom customers around the world. None of them has ever experienced a security breach related to Huawei's equipment. ”

Negroponte cofounded the MIT Media Lab in 1985 and he directed for its first 20 years. As a graduate of MIT, Negroponte was a pioneer in the field of computer-aided design and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1966.