DJI products may be banned in the US due to (Chinese) security protocols and operational practices. Hence, DJI is asking its US customers to contact their senators in order to prevent banning by law. Read DJI’s statement below.
On June 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included the Countering CCP Drones Act. The Senate Committee on Armed Services also met to discuss their versions of the NDAA but has not yet publicly shared their versions of the bill. The Senate will consider its version of the bill. If it proceeds, the House and Senate will then work to negotiate the differences between the two versions of the bill, resulting in a final version that will be signed into law. Thank you for sharing your stories and voicing how the ban on DJI products in the U.S. would impact you. We remain committed to our customers and will continue our effort to maintain your access to our reliable, safe, and secure drones. It’s not too Late! You can still contact your senators and Representatives and urge them to oppose any legislation restricting the safe and responsible use of your drones. Keep making your voice heard.
DJI
Banning DJI products from entering the US market
“Countering CCP Drones Act” (HR 2864) aims to ban new DJI products from entering the US market due to DJI’s security protocols and operational practices. The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee included this bill in their draft of the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and a Senate Committee considered their version of the NDAA bill. HR 2864 requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to add DJI to its “Covered List.” If DJI is added to this list, the FCC would no longer be able to approve new equipment authorizations for DJI products or software in the US. If enacted, the bill could have far-reaching implications, including the potential retroactive revocation of existing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approvals for DJI. This means that drones you have already purchased and are currently using could be grounded, irrespective of whether you use them for business or recreational purposes. This ban can be expanded not only regarding drones but to other DJI products as well. It’s a big deal for many creators in the US.
DJI’s response: “Contact your Senators”
This is DJI’s response as published in its IG (see above picture): “On June 14, the U.S House of Representatives passed their version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included the Countering CCP Drones Act. The Senate Committee on Armed Services also met to discuss their versions of the NDAA but has not yet publicly shared their versions of the bill. The Senate will consider its version of the bill. If it proceeds, the House and Senate will then work to negotiate the differences between the two versions of the bill, resulting in a final version that will be signed into law. Thank you for sharing your stories and voicing how the ban on DJI products in the U.S. would impact you. We remain committed to our customers and will continue our effort to maintain your access to our reliable, safe, and secure drones. It’s not too Late! You can still contact your senators and Representatives and urge them to oppose any legislation restricting the safe and responsible use of your drones. Keep making your voice heard”. Moreover, DJI believes that the government should focus on developing industry standards or guidelines that raise the bar on security for all manufacturers, and not target innovators simply because of their country of origin (China).
So, have you contacted your senators yet?
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Hey, we all know there are no companies anywhere outside of China that could even dream of engineering some sort of a flying machine, with an app no less (no one wants to work anymore) and the remote chance of the Chinese military pressing the button (that you absolutely know they have) to hijack everybody’s drone and crash them all into power lines to take out “the grid” is a small price to pay for the 20 odd seconds of “epic” slow motion B-roll for my youtube channel. Be sure to like and subscribe!
I believe the major concern as far as national security is whether the Chinese have created a “back door” in its software which sends GPS and images to Chinese satellites. It should be a matter of reverse engineering the software to confirm suspicions to monitor communications with satellites. Seems like a knee jerk reaction but possibly this has already been done with proof?