[It seems to me there's not an easy answer here. If Yahoo is prohibited from entering the Chinese market, then Chinese users likely will end up with far more restrictive alternatives. But signing a "pledge on self-discipline" should not sit well with anyone who values freedom. (Then again, would HRW be publicly upset at a European broadcaster who wants to enter the U.S. market and pledges to abide by the FCC's "anti-indecency" regulations as a condition of obtaining a license? Of course not. Like I said, no easy answers.) --Declan] --- From: "Xeni Jardin" <xeniat_private> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private> Subject: HRW: Yahoo! Risks Abusing Free Speech Rights in China Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 22:33:01 -0700 http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/08/yahoo080902.htm <<"If it implements the pledge, Yahoo! will become an agent of Chinese law enforcement. It will switch from being an information gateway to an information gatekeeper." Kenneth Roth Executive Director of Human Rights Watch >> 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 30, 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. --- From: "Xeni Jardin" <xeniat_private> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private> Subject: More: Yahoo!'s own report + HRW's letter to Yahoo! Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 22:33:56 -0700 <http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020809/1/31f1d.html> Friday August 9, 1:49 PM Yahoo 'complicit' in China rights abuses through censorship pledge: group US Internet giant Yahoo is "complicit" in rights abuses by the Chinese government after agreeing to a Beijing-backed self-censorship pledge for web pages, a human rights group has charged. Yahoo, which markets itself as a bastion on free information, would be helping China clamp down on free expression if it abided by a pact for Chinese Internet firms signed by the company, Human Rights Watch said Friday. "If it implements the pledge, Yahoo will become an agent of Chinese law enforcement," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based group in a letter to Yahoo. "It will switch from being an information gateway to an information gatekeeper." The "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry" compels signatories not to post information that will "jeopardise state security and disrupt social stability" among other restrictions. A list of signatories provided last month by the Internet Society of China, a self-regulatory body for Chinese-based web firms, cited Yahoo as one of the 120 or so companies that have agreed to the terms. Signatories should also remove links to sites that contain "harmful" information, "so as to ensure that the content of the network information is lawful and healthy", according to the rules. [...] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://hrw.org/press/2002/08/yahoo-ltr073002.htm Yahoo! Risks Abusing Rights in China Human Rights Watch Letter to Terry Semel July 30, 2002 Terry Semel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Yahoo! Inc. 701 First Avenue Sunnyvale, California 94089 Dear Mr. Semel: We are writing to express our deep concern at news that Yahoo! Inc. has signed the "Public Pledge on Self-discipline for the Chinese Internet Industry" sponsored by the Internet Society of China, a government-affiliated organization. Yahoo has been a leader in bringing the Internet to millions of people in China. Yahoo's e-mail, online forums, and other publicly accessible services have enabled millions of global users to communicate within and outside of their countries. By agreeing to the pledge, Yahoo threatens to undermine the positive potential of the Internet in China. Were Yahoo to implement its provisions, it could become complicit in violations of the right to free expression. Yahoo would be seen in China and around the world not so much as a portal offering access to new ideas, but as a gatekeeper for an oppressive government. In recent months, the Internet Society of China has encouraged Internet businesses, government units and research institutes around China to sign on to this standard. While signing the pledge is not required by law, it is, along with China's many restrictive Internet laws, another repressive measure against China's rapidly growing virtual community. By agreeing to the pledge, Yahoo is facilitating censorship by the government. The vague language of the pledge would appear to require Yahoo to identify and prevent the transmission of virtually any information that Chinese authorities or companies deem objectionable. Signatories agree to "[r]efrain from producing, posting or disseminating harmful information that may jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability, contravene laws and regulations and spread superstition and obscenity." Signatories must also "monitor the information publicized by users on websites according to law and remove the harmful information promptly"; and "[r]efrain from establishing links to the Web sites that contain harmful information so as to ensure that the content of the network information is lawful and healthy." There is no definition as to what constitutes "harmful information." The government of the People's Republic of China systematically restricts freedom of expression. The China Democracy Party, an opposition political party formed within China, has been restricted, and its leaders arrested or forced to flee the country. Since 1989, student activists around the country calling for greater democratization and transparency have received prison sentences ranging from ten years to life. Chinese ethnic and religious minority activists who call for genuine autonomy or separatism, such as Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims, are routinely jailed. In Chinese prisons and labor camps all such political prisoners are often mistreated, denied medical treatment, and even tortured or executed. In China, in short, any public expression of views that differ from those of the state, and provision of information not deemed politically acceptable, may be considered "harmful" and may result in a prison sentence. There is a strong likelihood that Yahoo will assist in furthering such human rights violations. China is a signatory to, though it has yet to ratify, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 19 of the Covenant states that "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice." Any restriction on expression or on information must be prescribed by law. National security restrictions must have a genuine purpose and demonstrable effect of protecting a legitimate national security interest. The restriction imposed must be the least restrictive means possible for protecting that interest and must be compatible with democratic principles. In effect, the pledge places the burden on companies such as Yahoo to enforce the Chinese government's standards on freedom of expression. We understand that Yahoo is obliged to abide by laws in countries where it does business, but Yahoo should make it a point to do everything in its power to avoid affirmatively endorsing insidious censorship practices. Signing the Public Pledge flies in the face of this principle. Yahoo should immediately and publicly clarify that it will abide by internationally recognized free expression standards, and that it will take no actions pursuant to the Pledge inconsistent with those standards. Yahoo should also clarify that if the only way to do business in China is to be complicit with government censorship, it will stop doing business there. Were Yahoo to face demands to accept similarly restrictive standards in the United States or Europe, we are certain that you would do everything in your power to resist them, and that you would look to others to support your right to be free from censorship. Indeed, in April 2001, Human Rights Watch joined many other organizations in an amicus curiae brief standing by Yahoo when its Website was sued over its content. Yahoo's image as an irreverent and open forum for free exchange is starkly contradicted by its willingness to abide by the repressive standards of the public pledge. As a standard bearer in an industry that depends on the free flow of ideas, it is not in Yahoo's interest to develop a split personality: innovative and open in the West, but tolerant of unlawful intrusions on expression in the East. The pledge is an inappropriate commitment for an industry leader to undertake. We strongly urge Yahoo to withdraw from it. In the meantime, Yahoo should clarify its position on the censorship of Internet content to its users and the public in the interest of full disclosure, so that consumers can decide whether they wish to support such practices. In particular, users of Yahoo's Chinese-language website should be clearly informed what information will be monitored, what information will be excluded, and what will be reported to authorities. On Friday, we contacted Yahoo several times by phone to request a meeting in order to discuss Yahoo's position in China, but received no response. We would greatly appreciate an opportunity to discuss this matter with you directly, and look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, Kenneth Roth Executive Director cc: Jerry Yang Co-Founder, Director and Chief Yahoo Chris Castro Chief Communications Officer and Senior Vice President John Costello Chief Global Marketing Officer Jon Sobel Vice President General Counsel and Secretary ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? 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