Yahoo! wants help on censorship
Reports say the search firm thinks global Internet restrictions are too much for one company to address.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Yahoo! will call for U.S. businesses and government to tackle global free-speech and privacy protections, while acknowledging that its own compliance with Chinese law has led to "serious and distressing" consequences, according to published reports. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times report that Yahoo officials say that restrictions on free speech and privacy imposed by other governments on Internet users is a matter that must be addressed by the U.S. government. "No one company, no one industry can tackle this on its own," Michael Callahan, the company's general counsel, told the FT. "We very much look forward to taking this (to Washington)." The U.S. House International Relations subcommittee on global human rights and the subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific will hold a hearing Wednesday on the role of the Internet in China. Representatives from Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems are scheduled to testify. Yahoo and other Internet search firms like Google came under criticism by members of Congress last week over their compliance with restrictions placed on their operations in China. Callahan said the company would comply with a government's demand to restrict search results "as narrowly as possible," with an aim to achieve "maximum transparency." Callahan told the Journal it is too early to say exactly how the U.S. government might best tackle the issue. Beyond the restrictions of search results, Yahoo has been under fire for disclosing to the Chinese government the identity of a Chinese journalist Shi Tao, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison last April for giving foreign-based Web sites a "top secret" government message that had been sent to his newspaper. Callahan said that Yahoo had to comply with a "lawful order" from the Chinese government. For a Business 2.0's in-depth look at Yahoo's China problem, click here. |
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