Yahoo branded “a disgrace” in Jailed Chinese Journalist case

Yahoo has been forced to settle with the families of two jailed Chinese journalists. Wang Xiaoning was jailed in 2002 for “incitement to subvert state power” after he sent political emails and posted articles online. Shi Tao, a former writer with the Contemporary Business News, was jailed in 2004 for breaching state secrecy laws. The pair were arrested after Yahoo passed on their email and ISP addresses to the Chinese government.

In April, a lawsuit was filed against Yahoo on behalf of the jailed journalists, who are currently serving 10-year sentences in a Chinese prison. The suit claimed that Yahoo had breached the pair’s basic human rights by providing information that ultimately led to their imprisonment.

Initially, Yahoo denied the charge and claimed they were obliged to provide information to the Chinese authorities as a condition of them operating in the country. However, as they soon found themselves under immense pressure from critics, the suit was becoming a PR nightmare for the company and they were forced to change their plea.

The World Organisation for Human Rights held Yahoo responsible for the imprisonment of these journalists and suggested that there may be others in a similar situation. A spokesperson stated that the journalists were “serving 10-year prison sentences as a direct result of the information Yahoo provided to Chinese authorities” and that “hundreds more have been similarly affected.” Yu Ling, Wang’s wife, was also quick to criticise the Internet giant for their role in her husband’s imprisonment. She stated that the information Yahoo handed over to the Chinese government had subjected her husband and others to “torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment… for using the Internet to communicate about democracy and human rights matters.”

Hearing from the families of the journalists proved to be a turning point for Jerry Yang, Yahoo founder. Although admitting no guilt, he promised to “provide financial, humanitarian and legal support” to families of the journalists.

Ultimately, Tom Lantos, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, was pleased that Yahoo had decided to settle. He said: “It took a tongue-lashing from congress before these high-tech titans did the right thing and coughed up some concrete assistance… what a disgrace.”

Sources:
 
Guardian
Times
BBC

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