Yahoo Works with Chinese Communists
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - A freedom of speech group has accused Yahoo! of complying with the Chinese government's program of cracking down on dissident political speech on the Internet. Reporters Without Borders said in statement that Yahoo provided customer data to the Chinese government on several occasions, including in the 2003 case of Li Zhi, who was jailed for "inciting subversion."
Li had been arrested previously in 2002 for posting in online discussion groups about the corruption of local officials, according to the statement. "[Yahoo] says it simply responds to requests from the authorities for data without ever knowing what it will be used for. But this argument no longer holds water," said the statement. "Yahoo certainly knew it was helping to arrest political dissidents and journalists, not just ordinary criminals."
"We are unaware of this case," said Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako told Business 2.0, CNNMoney's sister publication. "We can't comment on the accuracy of the report."
The activist group called for Yahoo to release the names of all people it has provided data on, pointing to a Reporters Without Borders list of 81 people who were allegedly jailed for speech violations.
Yahoo has previously faced criticism. Shi Tao, another dissident was jailed for 10 years in April 2005 after the Internet company allegedly supplied data about him to the government.
Li had been arrested previously in 2002 for posting in online discussion groups about the corruption of local officials, according to the statement. "[Yahoo] says it simply responds to requests from the authorities for data without ever knowing what it will be used for. But this argument no longer holds water," said the statement. "Yahoo certainly knew it was helping to arrest political dissidents and journalists, not just ordinary criminals."
"We are unaware of this case," said Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako told Business 2.0, CNNMoney's sister publication. "We can't comment on the accuracy of the report."
The activist group called for Yahoo to release the names of all people it has provided data on, pointing to a Reporters Without Borders list of 81 people who were allegedly jailed for speech violations.
Yahoo has previously faced criticism. Shi Tao, another dissident was jailed for 10 years in April 2005 after the Internet company allegedly supplied data about him to the government.
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