Amnesty: Web Companies Violating Rights

(AP) -- Amnesty International accused Yahoo, Microsoft and Google on Thursday of violating human rights principles by cooperating with China's efforts to censor the Web and called on them to lobby for the release of jailed cyber-dissidents.

The London-based human rights group also called on the Internet companies to publicly oppose Chinese government requests that violate human rights standards.

"The Internet should promote free speech, not restrict it. We have to guard against the creation of two Internets - one for expression and one for repression," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty's U.S. branch, in a statement.

The companies "have violated their stated corporate values and policies" in their pursuit of China's booming Internet market, the statement said. It appealed to them to "call for the release of `cyber-dissidents.'"

Google Inc. and the Chinese partner that runs Yahoo Inc.'s China operation, Alibaba.com, defended their activities and said their presence benefits China's public.

Google said in a written statement that its search engine discloses when results have been removed "in response to local laws and regulations" and that the company avoids offering services when it can't guarantee users' privacy.

Alibaba.com didn't respond directly to Amnesty's criticism but said its focus is on Internet commerce, not news and information.

"By creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and connecting China's exporters to buyers around the world, Alibaba.com and Yahoo China are having an overwhelmingly positive impact on the lives of average people in China," said Porter Erisman, an Alibaba.com spokesman, in a written statement.

A spokesman for Microsoft Corp. didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

China has the world's second-largest population of Internet users after the United States, with 123 million people online. Though the communist government promotes Internet use, it has also set up an extensive surveillance and filtering system to prevent Chinese from accessing material considered obscene or politically subversive.

The Amnesty statement appealed to Internet companies to reveal details of their dealings with Chinese authorities and to exhaust all judicial appeals before complying with government requests that might affect human rights, such as the release of e-mail account information.

A growing number of Chinese journalists and others have been jailed for posting politically oriented comments online and other Internet-related activities.

Yahoo has been the most severely criticized after the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company's China operation provided information on e-mail users that was used to sentence two dissidents to prison.

Google has been criticized for censoring search results on its China site. Microsoft has banned terms such as "human rights" from its Chinese Web log service and shut down the U.S.-based log of a Chinese blogger at Beijing's request.

By JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Related stories:

Blogger arrested over leak of Guns N' Roses songs
(AP) -- A blogger suspected of streaming songs from the unreleased Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" on his Web site was arrested Wednesday and appeared in court, where his bail was set at $10,000.
Dell unveils new PCs targeting emerging markets
(AP) -- Dell Inc. unveiled four low-cost computer models for China, India and other emerging economies Wednesday in a new bid to tap the potential of high-growth markets outside the United States.
iTunes blocked in China; Tibet album suspected
(AP) -- Customers in China of Apple Inc.'s iTunes online music store were unable to download songs this week, and an activist group said Beijing was trying to block access to a new Tibet-themed album.
China limits use of Olympians' names online
(AP) -- China has banned the use of its Olympic gold medalists' names as Internet addresses by anyone but the athletes themselves.
Analog TV shutdown kills free cell-phone TV
(AP) -- Picture whipping out your cell phone and catching up with "Lost" or "Jeopardy," or watching the local 11 o'clock news, all for free. You can do this with an imported Chinese phone, but you can't with any phone sold in the U.S. - at least not without monthly charges.
China drops some Internet curbs ahead of Games
China on Friday rolled back a few high-profile planks of its Internet censorship system in an apparent effort to defuse an embarrassing dispute over media freedom just days ahead of the Olympics.
Defiant China hits out at US, stands firm on Internet
A defiant China stood firm on controversies swirling around the Olympics on Thursday, hitting back at the United States over human rights criticism and insisting Internet censorship would remain.
China to censor Internet during Games: organisers
The Beijing Olympics were plunged into another controversy on Wednesday as China announced a backflip on Internet freedoms for the thousands of foreign reporters covering the Games.

News discussion:

Technology news