It seems that the big search engines might now be taken to task over their terrible behaviour in China.
You will remember our article on MSN’s recent selling out of Chinese blogger Zhao Jing, which was just the latest in a series of misdemeanours involving the search engines bowing to the anti-free speech whims of the Chinese government in a misguided attempt to secure future market share in China.
Luckily for the cause of free speech, the Republican representative for New Jersey, Christopher H Smith seems to have been taking notice of the internet furore caused by that (and other) news.
The chairman of a House sub-committe will begin hearings next month to investigate claims that US companies, including Microsoft and Yahoo, are aiding China’s net censorship.
The move comes a week after the reporter’s rights organisation - Reporters Without Borders issued a statement calling on US internet companies to establish a voluntary code of conduct. (You can sign the petition too.)
According to the Boston Globe, Chistopher Smith has made quite a name for himself as an ardent supporter of human rights and believes that a law may be the only thing that could stop companies cooperating with anti-free speech initiatives by the Chinese government.
If that happens to be the ultimate result of the hearing then it would be nice to see other Western nations follow the US lead with similar moves to deter corporate actions against free speech in repressive countries.
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