The Free Speech Quandry: Chinese Crackdown Continues

Given all the recent attention on free speech rights sparked by the publication of 12 Danish cartoons in a small Danish newspaper that morphed into a huge riotfest throughout parts of the Islamic world, the continued Chinese crackdown on free speech has slipped under the radar.

Google's kowtowing to China's requests for access to the Chinese market may have sparked a lot of interest in the blogosphere, but Google was hardly the first company to give in. Microsoft, Walmart, and any other company doing business in China has to make deals with the Chinese government.

Microsoft is implementing a new policy, which is de facto censorship of Chinese bloggers. Sure, you might be able to access the Chinese bloggers outside China, but those bloggers can no longer post to their blogs, and no one in China can access those blogs either. Rebecca MacKinnon notes:

What will Microsoft do now? Do nothing and hope that angry Chinese bloggers who now hate msn will be outnumbered by happy Chinese cat-bloggers? Get into the game of censoring individual blog posts? Ask each blogger to choose whether they want to take down an individual offending post or have their whole blog blocked? It doesn’t seem like they have thought any of these scenarios through before starting up their Chinese language blog service.

Others noting the problems facing Microsoft: Asia Pundit and The Peking Duck who wonders why people think that Chinese bloggers don't care much about censorship.

Freedom House has a general overview of the situation, and it is only getting worse, despite the fact that the Chinese government is trying to put a happy face on the country in anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It's quite interesting that companies, particularly those in the US, not to mention the US government, aren't doing more to exploit that to demand more free speech rights for the Chinese people.

The most egregious examples of censorship and working with the Chinese government has to be Yahoo's reprehensible policy of providing direct assistance to the Chinese government - they continue to turn over data on cyber dissidents. Yahoo is aiding and abetting in the active censorship of dissidents - resulting in real world arrests. It's not just the simple act of shutting down blogs or restricting access. Now, Yahoo denies that it has done anything wrong - claiming that they are simply complying with local law.

Washington --- Press freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres has ignited a new row over internet rights on the mainland, clashing with Yahoo over the case of a cyber-dissident.

The group accused Yahoo of handing over data to mainland authorities on a subscriber in China, which it said resulted in his arrest and imprisonment. But the US-based internet giant said it was unaware of the case of dissident Li Zhi, and dismissed what it said were mis-characterisations of its past practices in China.

The watchdog said it had discovered new information about the case of Li, whom it described as a cyber-dissident, who landed in jail after online politicking.

Li, a 35-year-old former civil servant from Dazhou, was handed an eight-year prison sentence for subversion in December 2003 based on electronic records provided by Yahoo, it alleged.

"Now we know Yahoo works regularly and efficiently with the Chinese police," it said.

The watchdog called on Yahoo to supply a list of all cyber-dissidents subject to data requests from Chinese authorities, starting with 81 people for whom it was campaigning.

Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said that since October, Yahoo's service on the mainland had been operated and managed by Alibaba, a local firm, under a long-term strategic partnership.

"When we did operate the Yahoo China business, we only responded with what we were legally compelled to provide and nothing more," she said. "We were rigorous in our procedures and made sure that only the required material was provided.

A Tibetan news source Phayul.com notes that even though there are no soldiers at Internet cafes, the Chinese government is still watching - signs note that you can't use the Internet to "'Do not use Internet,' the warning instructed crassly,'for any political or other unintelligent purposes.'" They're not kidding. Their advice to American Internet companies? Don't Be Evil. The huge Chinese market is too tempting for these companies to not deal with the Chinese government, but they can make efforts to not give in on this quite simple and fundamental human right - the free flow of communications.

That's good advice, but is anyone listening. So far, many of these companies have failed the ethical quandry facing them.

Many of the big name companies are going to Capitol Hill next week to testify before Congress over their behavior in China. That's sure to bring out some interesting tidbits. And it brings into focus what role these companies have in world affairs:

The hearing will likely produce more embarrassing publicity for the companies, and it may drive legislative momentum among lawmakers concerned about China's influence on the U.S. economy. Congressional aides are expecting a standing-room-only crowd, and the reception from politicians may be chilly.

"I was asked the question the other day, do U.S. corporations have the obligation to promote democracy? That's the wrong question," says Rep. Chris Smith, the New Jersey Republican and chairman of the House human-rights subcommittee that is holding the hearing. "It would be great if they would promote democracy. But they do have a moral imperative and a duty not to promote dictatorship."

UPDATE:
Posted to Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks, Basil's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Stop the ACLU, A Tic in the Mind's Eye, Point Five, Scared Monkeys notes the censorship issue crosses the Muslim riots and the Chinese censorship [and updated as warranted]

Technorati: china, censorship, dictatorship, repression, google, microsoft, yahoo, dont be evil.