PressEthic

The US government’s credibility on the advancement of freedom and democracy throughout the world isn’t exactly very high in the international eye right now. But our private sector isn’t manifesting these virtues any better. Western companies are aiding China in muzzling the media by providing equipment to censor China’s search engines and handing over what is thought to be private information to their government.

Some of us have followed the legal struggle of journalist Shi Tao over the past few months that led to his imprisonment in April. His sentence was made possible by Yahoo holdings in Hong Kong. As stated in Yahoo’s Terms of Service, subscribers must “…acknowledge, consent and agree that Yahoo! may access, preserve, and disclose your account information and Content if required to do so by law…”

Okay Yahoo. We get it. You need to adhere to the laws of the land. But this goes beyond a legal issue; it has become a moral issue. Although Yahoo claims it needs to comply with Chinese regulations, it doesn’t justify the betrayal of a person’s personal and private information to the government.

I question whether or not Yahoo would act in the same manner if their bottom line wasn’t affected. If Yahoo acknowledged the ethical dilemma at hand, they would go to the courts to fight what it views as unfair and send lobbyists to make sure they weaken the restrictions imposed on them to divulge such information. But since businesses like Yahoo won’t do this on their own, it is vital that Western governments monitor the company practices of Internet companies in repressive countries to make sure that ethical standards of the businesses are not dismissed for profit gain. Otherwise, how can we preach the need for freedom in other parts of the world when our actions result in restricting these people to participate in it?