Internet censorship condemned

2006-02-02 10:20

Washington - United States politicians and rights groups condemned technology giants Google, Microsoft, Cisco, and Yahoo on Wednesday for collaborating with China to censor the internet.

In a briefing by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the four US companies were accused of putting profits before principles in their push into the Chinese market.

"They should not let profits take precedence over traditional democratic values such as freedom of speech," said Representative Tim Ryan, who led the briefing.

The four companies are accused of bowing to Beijing's demands that the internet in China be censored to prevent Chinese citizens from seeing websites with information the government objects to, or using the internet in activities the government opposes.

Search giant Google and leading internet portal operator and computer software maker Microsoft have both admitted co-operating with Beijing's demands to censor websites.

Companies want to 'help US government'

Last year Yahoo, the other leading portal operator, was attacked for allegedly providing online information to the government that allowed it to find and jail a Chinese journalist critical of the government.

Cisco, which makes key equipment for the internet, is also accused of helping he government track cyber-dissidents.

"With all their power and influence, wealth and high visibility, they neglected to commit to the kind of positive action that human rights activists in China take every day," Representative Tom Lantos said of the companies.

"They caved in to Beijing's demands for the sake of profits," Lantos said.

The four companies refused invitations to take part in the briefing. Instead, in a joint statement, Microsoft and Yahoo suggested they wanted the US government to help solve the Chinese censorship problem.

Code of conduct needed

"We urge the United States 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 said.

"We want to assure members of Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the public at large that we do not consider the internet situation in China to be one of 'business-as usual'," they said, adding they were seeking better ways to protect the interests of users of their services.

The four companies have been summoned to a February 15 hearing by the House International Relations Subcommittee, which oversees human rights issues.

Anti-censorship groups Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said they supported having Congress push the internet companies to put in place a uniform code of conduct which will protect freedom of speech.

- AFP