US: Yahoo! settles in Chinese journalists' lawsuit

Settlement could change the way U.S. companies conduct business in China in the future

By Jaime Mendoza
AsiaMedia Staff Writer

Friday, November 16, 2007

Yahoo! Inc. settled a lawsuit filed by jailed Chinese journalist Shi Tao and cyber dissident Wang Xiaoning on Tuesday amid growing criticism from the U.S. Congress.

On behalf of both journalists and their families, the World Organization for Human Rights USA sued Yahoo! in April alleging the company "willingly" provided their e-mail and personal information to the Chinese government, which led to their arrest and incarceration.

According to an Associated Press report, although the details of the settlement terms are sealed, Yahoo! agreed to pay the plaintiffs' attorney fees and financially compensate the jailed journalists and their families. The company will also create a "human rights fund to provide humanitarian and legal aid to dissidents who have been imprisoned for expressing their views online."

Shi was convicted of "leaking state secrets" for e-mails he sent to New York-based, dissident news website Minzhu Luntan in April 2004, detailing the propaganda department's instructions to media outlets on how to cover the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. According to Wired, Wang was convicted of "incitement to subvert state power" for posting on a Yahoo! group the necessity of democratic reform. Both are serving 10-year sentences.

Yahoo!'s decision came after House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) severely criticized the company last Tuesday, describing its actions as "inexcusably negligent behavior at best, and deliberately deceptive behavior at worst." 

According to CNET News.com, Morton Sklar, Shi and Wang's lawyer, said the settlement "provides a precedent making clear that U.S. companies have to do much more than just follow the orders of their host governments; that they have to look to U.S. laws and U.S. human rights standards when they make their decisions abroad." 

A proposed bill called the Global Online Freedom Act of 2007, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), is currently in the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed, U.S. companies would be prohibited from cooperating with foreign nations in censoring Internet content and in providing information to track users down. It would also allow "affected parties" to file civil suits in the United States against companies who violate the Global Online Freedom Act.

Date Posted: 11/16/2007