Yahoo, which has come under considerable scrutiny for what appears to be an over-willingness--even an eagerness--to cooperate with the Chinese government in incarcerating free speech and democracy
advocates, is asking the U.S. government to help in urging China to allow more media freedom. Over the last few years, Yahoo offices in China and Hong Kong have been cited in several Chinese court
decisions to jail writers for subversion. Evidence abounds that Yahoo willingly supplied--and in some cases offered--user data to authorities. Yahoo Chief Terry Semel said the company and other
companies operating there have no choice but to comply with local laws. He said that discontinuing operations there would not help boost free speech, and that the matter of media freedom is one for
the U.S. government to discuss with Chinese authorities. I should hope in the wake of all the negative publicity surrounding Yahoo in China, that the company revert to the minimum compliance required
to operate there. In other words, it should turn to shutting down Web sites and censoring content where it's told to instead of willfully handing over the draft e-mails and instant messaging
conversions of supposed dissidents.
Read the whole story at Reuters.com »
