Congressman: US may have to require firms resist B******By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | January 12, 2006
One of the most aggressive human rights activists in Congress has found a new cause: stamping out Internet censorship in C****.
Representative Christopher H. Smith, a New Jersey Republican and chairman of a House subcommittee on human rights, plans to hold hearings next month on reports that US Internet companies, including
Yahoo Inc. and
Microsoft Corp., aid efforts by the government of C**** to suppress free speech. The issue has simmered for years as American companies have raced to enter the C****** Internet market, already the second-largest on earth and rapidly growing.
US businesses and politicians have long said the growth of Internet use in C**** would lead to greater freedom of expression; in turn, this would encourage the world's most populous nation to begin a gradual transition toward d*m*c**cy.
Instead, the government has repeatedly censored political speech on the Internet in C**** and to the dismay of Smith and other h*m*n r***ts activists, American companies have often acquiesced to this censorship. Last month, for example, Microsoft Corp. shut down a popular C****** blog run by a researcher for the B****** bureau of The New York Times.
The shutdown was denounced by h*m*n r***ts groups around the world. The international organization Reporters Without Borders last week urged American Internet companies to establish a voluntary code of conduct that would promote resistance to censorship demands from authoritarian governments. If that doesn't work, the organization said, Congress should pass a law to make such anticensorship policies mandatory.
Smith said such a law is probably the only way to stop US firms from cooperating with overseas censorship. He said that no US company should ever comply with C****** political censorship policies, even if it means they lose the right to do business in C****.
''Call them on their bluff," Smith said. ''We want an amelioration of your behavior, or we will not do business with you."
Elected in 1980, Smith has become known in Washington for his fervent opposition to human rights abuses. He drafted legislation in 1998 to provide federal funding to help refugees who had been tortured in their native lands. On Tuesday, he was present as President Bush signed a law against human trafficking that Smith wrote and championed, with support from media mogul Oprah Winfrey.
If Smith makes Internet censorship his next crusade, he won't be alone. The Congressional Human Rights Caucus also plans February hearings on the matter.
''We're going to get moving on this," said a caucus member, Democratic Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio. ''There are a lot of people in Congress who are very, very concerned."
Ryan stopped short of calling for legislation. But he noted that the US-C**** economic and Security Review Commission, a research body created by Congress, recently called for legislation requiring American Internet firms to demand a court order from C****** authorities before revealing information about a user. The law would also require US Internet companies to report such information requests to the US government.
