Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Yahoo Takes Heat for Human Rights Violations
byWhile many would argue that opening up business relationships in China has lead to greater freedoms, it’s also put businesses in a position to impact human rights issues.
As noted in an earlier blog, a few U.S. companies have been criticized for helping totalitarian governments censor the information and sites that users can access. Now, Yahoo has come under fire from Amnesty International for identifying a Chinese journalist who had disclosed a Communist Party directive instructing the media to downplay the June 4 anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre.
The Internet has brought about a great deal of convergence in our lives — the lines between business, work, politics, family and community have become far less distinct. This is just another case where business and politics are starting to overlap socially and geographically. Addressing those sorts of complications will become more and more important as we move further into the 21st century.
