[huridocs-tech] Yahoo! risks abusing rights in China

Yahoo! Risks Abusing Rights in China

(New York, August 9, 2002) -Yahoo! Inc. risks complicity in rights
abuses if it remains a signatory to China's "Public Pledge on
Self-discipline for the Chinese Internet Industry," Human Rights Watch
said today. Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Yahoo!'s CEO Terry
Semel, to detail these concerns, but as of today has received no
response.

"If it implements the pledge, Yahoo! will become an agent of Chinese law
enforcement," said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director. "It will switch
from being an information gateway to an information gatekeeper."

Signatories to the voluntary pledge agree to investigate all websites to
which they provide links, block anything the Chinese government would
consider "harmful information," and report those sites to Chinese
authorities. The government of the People's Republic of China
systematically restricts public expression of oppositional views on such
subjects as religion and politics. The Internet Society of China
initiated the pledge this spring. Hundreds of its members, including
Chinese companies, universities, and government offices, have signed on.

The Internet Society of China is the major professional association for
the Internet industry. While the ISOC is called a "non-governmental
organization," all such groups are at least partly linked with a larger
government work unit (danwei) that is responsible for their activities.
In the case of the Internet Society of China, that work unit is the
Ministry of Information Industry. As a rule, China's "non-governmental
organizations" are funded directly by the government through the work
unit system, and often function as think tanks for state policy.

The pledge commits signatories to make "energetic efforts to carry
forward the rich cultural tradition of the Chinese nation and the
ethical norms of the socialist cultural civilization" by observing all
state industry regulations. In particular, signatories vow to "[refrain]
from producing, posting, or disseminating pernicious information that
may jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability."

"Some Internet companies argue that they advance the cause of free
expression simply by their presence in China," Roth said. "But if a
powerful industry leader such as Yahoo! submits so readily to official
censorship requests, it sells short the potential of this new medium to
break Beijing's grasp on the free flow of information."

Chinese government agencies block thousands of Internet sites believed
to carry politically "harmful" or pornographic content. In the past two
years, however, thousands of small Internet storefront cafes have sprung
up around the country, making state control difficult. A fire in a
Beijing Internet cafe on June 16, allegedly set by children, killed 25
people, and became the spur to a broader government crackdown. Since
June, state authorities have announced plans to close 150,000 unlicensed
Internet cafes nationwide and have passed new regulations requiring
online publishers to "guarantee the legality" of their content. Internet
cafes will also be required to install software capable of blocking
designated foreign websites. Individuals who post or forward information
that authorities find objectionable have been jailed.

Many Chinese Internet users who use Internet cafes rely on free
services, such as e-mail and web access, provided by Yahoo!. This makes
the U.S.-based firm especially prominent in China.

"Voluntary codes of corporate conduct upholding human rights standards
have become increasingly commonplace in old economy industries such as
apparel, footwear, and even oil and gas," said Roth. "It is ironic that
a 'new economy' company would sign on to what is in effect a code of
misconduct that would undermine human rights."

Yahoo!'s decision to sign the pledge places it at odds with global
industry organizations. The Internet Society, an international industry
association that requires all its members to commit to free expression,
said that the Internet Society of China is not an affiliate because of
its reluctance to make that basic human rights commitment.

On July 26, Human Rights Watch wrote to request a meeting with Yahoo!
CEO Terry Semel to discuss free expression issues in China. Yahoo! has
not yet responded.

Related Material

Human Rights Watch Letter to Terry Semel
July 30, 2002
http://hrw.org/press/2002/08/yahoo-ltr073002.htm

China Tightens Internet Controls
Press Release, August 1, 2001
http://hrw.org/press/2001/08/china-0801.htm


Free Expression on the Internet
http://hrw.org/advocacy/internet/index.htm

Corporations and Human Rights
http://hrw.org/corporations/



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