by Playfuls Staff |
2nd February 2006
The “Chinese-Internet censorship” crisis is reaching new heights. And it seems that now, the greatest enemies of the Chinese information policy have become none other than the industry giants that were the first to comply with the requirements and regulations imposed by the communist government, namely Microsoft, Yahoo and Google. [more]
And no wonder. The companies have had a lot of bad publicity during the past few days, and all of it over their decision to do business in China. So, in a statement prepared for a meeting held Wednesday by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Andrew McLaughlin, Google's senior policy counsel, asked the U.S to go to bat for American values overseas by extending the definition of free trade to include the free flow of information, according to InformationWeek.
"[A]s a U.S.-based company that deals primarily in information, we have urged the United States government to treat censorship as a barrier to trade," he said. "There is an important role for the United States government to address, in the context of its bilateral government-to-government relationships, the larger issues of free expression and open communication."
As part of his statement, Google's McLaughlin detailed his company's plan to "balance [its] commitments to satisfy the interests of users, expand access to information, and respond to local conditions." In China, the local conditions consist of significant restrictions on information. Thus, Google's strategy for doing business there will achieve that balance through "improved disclosure, targeting of services, and local investment."
Microsoft and Yahoo also asked for government intervention in a joint statement prepared for the caucus. "While we believe that companies have a responsibility to identify appropriate practices in each market in which they do business, we think there is a vital role for government-to-government discussion of the larger issues involved," the two companies said. "We urge the United States government to take a leadership role in this regard and have initiated a dialogue with relevant U.S. officials to encourage such government-to-government engagement."
Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have high hopes for the Chinese market, but to date their efforts abroad have earned them low marks from critics.
Since the launch of Google's censored Chinese site, Google.cn, last week, Google has been on the defensive trying to reconcile its aim to do no evil with its willingness to collaborate with Chinese censorship requirements. "The launch last week of the censored Chinese Google website is only the latest sign that even companies that make strong and impressive corporate claims, such as Google’s motto, 'Don't Be Evil,' cannot or do not want to respect human rights when business interests are at stake," congressman Tom Lantos, co-chair of the caucus said in a statement.
Microsoft was sitting uncomfortably in the same hot water in early January after it blocked access to the site of Chinese blogger Michael Anti. In September 2005, Yahoo was on the spot following revelations that it supplied information to the Chinese authorities that led to ten year prison sentence for Chinese journalist Shi Tao.
Asking for help from the government may be the only option these companies. "China is becoming more and more of an important market for a variety of businesses and they have to decide either they want to do business there or they don't," says Andrew Serwin, a partner in the San Diego office of Foley & Lardner LLP. "And if do, they've got to comply with those laws. And it doesn't mean they agree with them or like them. They don't have much choice."
For public companies, which are measured primarily by financial performance, choosing not to do business in China isn't a realistic option. Moreover, Serwin suggests that concerns about censorship aren't really appropriate. "It's probably no more proper for us in the U.S. to impose our views on the Chinese than it would be for them to impose their censorship on us," he says.
On Tuesday, Microsoft SVP and general counsel Brad Smith set forth his company's new policy for dealing with government orders related to MSN Spaces blog content.
Under its new standards, Microsoft will block blogs only when presented with a legally binding notice from government authorities that the content in question violates the law.
Access will be denied only in the country in question and Microsoft customers responsible for blocked content will be notified that their government is responsible for the restrictions.
Carolyn Bartholomew, acting chairwoman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review, a congressionally mandated monitoring group, said China has begun to assume the role of technological leader among the developing nations in its region.
"China serves as the regional Internet provider for surrounding oppressive regimes, including North Korea and Uzbekistan," she said. "Through this role as Internet gatekeeper China exports its filtering technologies to other governments that may choose to employ them."
