Yahoo! Settlement in Chinese Journalists' Case Does Not Fix Dangers of Doing Business in China
Amy O'Meara, director of business and human rights at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), released the following
statement today in response to the announcement that Yahoo! settled an Internet repression case involving two Chinese
journalists jailed and allegedly tortured for e-mails that the company turned over to the Chinese government:
"Compensation may help bring a small measure of justice to the families of Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning, but it does not
fix the underlying problem. Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in jail because Chinese authorities used e-mail account
information supplied by Yahoo! to convict him. Band-Aid fixes are not going to stop a case like this from happening
again.
"Yahoo's commitments to protect privacy and free speech are suspect given the pledge it signed this summer that further
impinges on Chinese users' ability to express political dissent online. Yahoo! must urgently enact policies that will
prevent others like Shi Tao or Wang Xioaning from being jailed for political or other writings posted on the Internet.
"Internet companies doing business in China must carefully consider the human rights implications of their actions. It
would be unfortunate if companies saw individual settlements like these as the easy way to sweep underlying problems
under the rug."
Background
Shi Tao, a former writer for the financial publication Contemporary Business News, was sentenced to a decade in prison
under Chinese secrecy laws for allegedly providing state secrets to foreigners. Wang Xiaoning was arrested in 2002 after
Yahoo! HK gave authorities information linking him to political writings posted online.
ENDS