FC: Human Rights Watch tells Yahoo not to self-censor Chinese site

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[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" <xeni () xeni net>
To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>
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" <xeni () xeni net>
To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>
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




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