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02 Feb 2006
Yahoo and Microsoft have urged the US government to act at an international level to stop foreign governments censoring the online content that their citizens can view and access.
"We are deeply concerned about recent developments in China," the two companies said in a joint statement sent to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
"We urge the US government to take a leadership role in this regard and have initiated a dialogue with relevant US officials to encourage such government-to-government engagement."
The two companies claim that they lack the power to address the issue of online censoring. Google, for instance, gave in to a demand by the Chinese government in January to block access to certain information.
Microsoft gave in to Chinese censors in early January over certain blog content, although it has since changed its stance.
Yahoo and Microsoft were both asked to appear at a briefing in Washington, but failed to show up, as did representatives from Cisco and Google.
Their decision sparked criticism from committee members who accused the
companies of turning a blind eye to the situation in China's for financial gain.
The Microsoft/Yahoo statement aimed to refute those claims.
"We do not consider the internet situation in China to be one of 'business as usual'," they said.
"Beyond commercial considerations, we believe that our services have promoted personal expression and enabled far wider access to independent sources of information for hundreds of millions of individuals in China and elsewhere in the world."
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Do you agree?
There should NOT be any censoring on the Internet
I applaud Yahoo & Google, in bringing to our attention, the attempt, by the Chinese government, to censore the interenet.
Posted by: Michael Haley 09 Feb 2006
It's not up to Google to make the rules
Google, Yahoo etc all provide a service - it's not up to them to determine what level of service a national government will allow its citizens to have. They're private companies, not policy-makers in that regard. I don't see people yelling at bars because in one state you can go in and have a beer at 19, and in another state you have to wait till you're 21, this is exactly the same principle - the decision isn't made by the bars, they just provide the service to those that are allowed it by the area's law. Google and Yahoo are doing the same - effectively allowing the Chinese in for a coke, because the citizens there are not allowed a beer - a decision which they don't have the power, or the right, to intefere with. The other option is to deny the Chinese people the ability to "go into a bar" at ALL, which would leave them worse off than they are here. Until the Chinese government change their stance - which is the preserve of diplomats and other governments, NOT private service companies - that situation ain't gonna change.
Posted by: dreamingdaemon 05 Feb 2006
re: google / censorship
What makes you think that Google and Yahoo should be concerned with anything BUT the bottom line? It's amazing that you have the audacity to assume that large companies like these have some sort of mystical responsibility to mankind as a whole. If the Chinese government wants to censor the information in China, so be it. It's China's problem. If Americans have a problem with that, it is up to us (using our representative government) to address the issue, not big business. Whining about the "moral failings" of a company like Google only serves to showcase the weaknesses within yourself. Take some responsibility for your opinions and ACT on them!
Posted by: Dan Lynn 03 Feb 2006
China is right
It does not want junk to be consumed by its people.
Posted by: Hoang P 03 Feb 2006
google / censorship
It is so wonderful to see hypocrisy and greed win out of free speech on the internet... platitudes from the brothers tweedle dee and tweedle dum at google make good sound bits but like most of my liberal friends morals and ethics are pablum for the great unwashed ... they will never influence the bottom line ..three cheers for google and yahoo...
Posted by: Stephen R Wafalosky 02 Feb 2006
1 Step Closer to Bush Country
I'm fairly confident the United States Government, Democratic or Republican leadership not mattering, will ever stand up on such an issue against another government. Hell, if anything they'd like to take a step toward that form of censorship. From the dawn of the USA freedoms have always been a contraversy. President Bush himself has stated there ought to be a limit to freedoms. And this frame of mind doesn't stem from the phobia or fear of the world becoming a sinking titanic of immorality. This political perspective comes from the right wing control machine alone. It's the idea that life has shown you that you cannot give humanity the benefit of the doubt. Hence, Conservatism is about controlling society and Liberalism is about adhering to the inevitable laws of nature of change. You cannot stop time, nor control your society on something so basic as freedom of speech. And **** you for trying.
Posted by: Revo1 02 Feb 2006
The Blind
What a ridiculous comment. In case Mr. Sanders had not noticed but these organizations are businesses who only exist to make profits. In this case, the situation is different anyway. The real point is, what are the alternatives for the millions of censored Chinese people. I believe that having pages of Google clearly denied to them, lets them clearly see that they are being censored. That is half the battle.
Posted by: acerview54 02 Feb 2006