Last week i focused on the U.S. Congress’ attack on Net Neutrality. Sticking with the theme of the internet, i’ve decided to highlight a case involving Yahoo!, the Chinese government, and a journalist. The following information is from Amnesty International:
Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, is serving a ten-year prison sentence in China for sending an email. Writing about a Communist Party decision, Shi Tao sent the email to the USA using his Yahoo account. The Chinese authorities accused him of “illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities”.
According to the Court transcript, the evidence that led to Shi Tao’s sentencing included account-holder information provided by US internet company Yahoo. Disturbingly, it has recently come to light that Yahoo may have also released data which could have contributed to the arrest of another dissident, Li Zhi.
Shi Tao was accused of sending an email summarizing an internal Communist Party directive to a foreign source. The Communist Party directive had warned Chinese journalists of possible social unrest during the anniversary of the June 4 Movement (in memory of the Tiananmen crackdown), and directed them not to fuel it via media reports. Imprisoned for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, a right entrenched in international law and the Chinese Constitution, Amnesty International considers Shi Tao a prisoner of conscience.
Companies must respect human rights, wherever they operate. Yahoo’s actions are not justifiable: the company unconditionally met the Chinese government’s request for information on Shi Tao, and allegedly contributed to Li Zhi’s detention.
Paradoxically, Yahoo has stated that it believes in the core values of “excellence, innovation, customer fixation, team work, community and fun”. Yet, the company has signed the Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the Internet Industry, effectively agreeing to implement China’s draconian system of censorship and control.
Amnesty International has raised its concerns with Yahoo. The company has responded but has not addressed all the concerns raised.
Find out more about Yahoo’s and Amnesty International’s position on the Shi Tao case
Learn more about human rights in cyberspace from Amnesty International
Write to Yahoo now, expressing your concern about the company’s role in assisting in the violation of Shi Tao’s rights. Yahoo must use its influence to secure Shi Tao’s release. You can check out this page for a sample letter or you can write your own letter and send it to the following (send all emails to both Jerry Yang and David Filo):
Jerry Yang and David Filo
Co-founders, Chief Yahoo & Directors
Emails: jerry@yahoo-inc.com; filo@yahoo-inc.com
Alternative emails:
Michael Callahan, Senior VP General Counsel: callahan@yahoo-inc.com
Gregory Coleman, Exec VP Global Advertising Sales: gcoleman@yahoo-inc.com
Yahoo Customer Care
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, California 94089
USA
If you can, call Yahoo Customer Care to make your points over the phone: 001-408-349-1572
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Hooray, one I can agree with. Screw Yahoo, and screw any company that does business with China in this fashion. Sure, it makes sense to engage, and to try and provide some pressure in the direction of liberalization. And there are bound to be some morally difficult areas and fuzzy lines that are going to require judgment.
When you find yourself having to turn people over to the secret police, you’re over the fuzzy line.
Boo Yahoo! has been a good resource on this case for some time. Note that Yahoo’s fingers are in a lot of popular pies — Flickr and Del.icio.us, to name two from which I deleted accounts — so a boycott takes some work. (If anyone is thinking of doing the same, I’ve been very happy with Photobucket and Simpy.)
I think that the actions of Yahoo (and Google as well, IIRC) in such cases as these is a disgrace. Something like this flies in the face of not only the ideals that the companies themselves profess but those that America stands for, and basic human decency. They sold these guys out, pure and simple, so that they can do business in China. I wonder how they sleep at night?
I wonder how they sleep at night?
Cushioned cozily on a big bed of money.
I read about this on Democracy Now! or some other blog, I cannot remember. It’s a damn shame, especially with the whole Net Neutrality issue up in the air right now. Ugh, I pray the Republicans don’t screw us again. It’s bad enough that it only took 8 of them to not allow an increase in the minimum wage a week ago.
@#$!%?$!
Can we please just stop with the pretense that Democrats aren’t perfectly capable of fucking us over to line their own fucking pockets ?!
58 House Democrats Vote Against Net Neutrality
And, yes, I know that Ron Wyden is trying to defend neutrality in the Senate. Perhaps he learned from all that media consolidation bullshit in the 1990s that monopolies aren’t good for his party’s long-term health– no matter how much money individual members can jam into their already-bulging pockets by pushing it on us. >: I guess by the toothless standards of the current scene, it’s easy to get hyped up and excited over a politican whom merely proves that he’s got the brains God gave a gnat.
robert – glad we can finally agree on one:)
bill – thanks for the links.