Major Internet Companies Criticized for Business Practices

WASHINGTON, D.C. — For big profits, leading U.S. companies like Google and Yahoo are aiding the Chinese communist regime in violating fundamental human rights, according to experts at the briefing of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in Washington, D.C. last week.

Google's announcement in January that it will comply with the Chinese communist regime's demand to censor politically sensitive terms on its new Chinese search site, Google.cn, has prompted severe criticism. In 2005, Yahoo cooperated with Chinese secret police which led to the imprisonment of Chinese journalist Shi Tao.

China has the most advanced Internet filtering system in the world with 30,000 Internet police that monitor websites, chat rooms, and e-mails, demonstrating that the liberating qualities of the Internet can be taken away and made into tools of repression.

"Instead of supporting such customers by using their considerable resources to develop new technologies to bypass government gate-keepers, the Internet companies have agreed themselves to guard the gates," said Rep. Tom Lantos, co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

China has one of the fastest growing Internet markets in the world. Its number of Internet users have grown from 22.5 million in 2000 to 111 million in 2005, second only to the U.S. Within four years, China is expected to have the largest Internet market in the world.

As millions more Chinese gain access to the Internet, "the Chinese leadership has devoted extraordinary resources to erecting its Great Firewall," said Tom Malinowski, Washington Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch. "[One] lesson of China's experience with the Internet is that repressive governments cannot exercise full control over this medium without the willing cooperation of the private sector companies that are leaders in the industry," he said.

"Despite the hopes of many in the United States, China's economic reforms have not led to political reforms or the fundamental improvements in its policy of controlling the flow of information," said Carolyn Bartholomew, acting chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Economic growth has resulted in greater access by the Chinese people to telecommunications and to the Internet, but the Chinese communist regime has "parried all these moves, in most cases with startling effectiveness," she said.

"[In] the pursuit of new and lucrative markets, these IT companies are contributing to human rights violations", according to T. Kumar, advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific of Amnesty International USA.

Google, Yahoo, Cisco, and Microsoft were invited to the briefing, but all four companies failed to send representatives. "While attendance at Wednesday's briefing was not mandatory, companies could be compelled with subpoenas to attend a Feb. 15 hearing on the issue," said Rep. Chris Smith.

No Excuses

A common argument by companies doing business in China is: "We have to follow Chinese law if we do business in China."

"[It] is not enough for Internet companies to argue that their mere presence in countries like China will lead to political openness. It is illogical for companies to say they are expanding the boundaries of freedom in China if they strip their product of the very qualities that make it a force for greater freedom," said Malinowski.

China is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that, "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression…" According to Malinowski, these Internet companies are in clear violation of international law.

Google is arguing that the censorship they are employing is acceptable because Chinese Internet users are being told honestly what the company is doing.

However, according to Malinowski, Google is not disclosing a crucial piece of information about how its censorship system works. "[And] for such a system to work, the company will have to maintain a close and ongoing relationship with the Chinese security apparatus," he said. This is due to the need to adapt to constant changes of the Internet.

Ultimately, Google's brand of censorship facilitates the Chinese communist regime in spreading its propaganda on the Internet. For example, a search on Google.cn for democracy, Tibet or Falun Gong may result in the communist regime's propaganda, while blocking all other sources.

The effects could also be damaging for U.S.-Sino relations. "China's Internet controls pose a security concern for the United States by facilitating the [Chinese communist regime's] commanding role in the formation of public opinion about the United States and U.S. policies," said Carolyn Bartholomew.

The stakes go beyond China. The Chinese communist regime is exporting advanced technology for control of the Internet to other repressive regimes—Zimbabwe and North Korea, for example.