Yahoo ‘Strictest’ Censor in China

Yahoo ‘Strictest’ Censor in China (Wired News)

I don’t understand people who complain about Google’s efforts to serve the Chinese market and then all but ignore more serious issues like this. Here we have a company (a subsidiary) that is caught enthusiastically censoring, above and beyond Chinese law, and also actively helping the Gov’t imprison people for what are essentially thought crimes.

Yet somehow, it doesn’t get much, if any, media attention here in the US. But when Google started offering a more reliable search service from inside the great firewall, adhering to the letter but not the spirit of Chinese law and adding safeguards to prevent disclosing personal information, people were up in arms about how Google was "doing evil." Why is that?

Are people really so cynical (or naive) as to let Yahoo off the hook just because they never said "don’t be evil?" Does that somehow make it okay? Does it make it any less newsworthy?

Or are the attacks on Google simply a bunch of bitchy sniping at the current search leader to "knock them down a peg" from their perceived high horse? If so, people should really be ashamed of themselves for using a real on-going human tragedy to mask what is basic school-yard politics. What can possibly be more hypocritical than falsely accusing someone else of being hypocritical as part of your own personal agenda? I mean, it’s not like critics of Google in China stopped shopping at Wal*Mart of buying Nike’s or cheap computer parts.

Yahoo doesn’t need to take a stand on "doing evil" in their corporate PR materials. They’ve made their values clear in their actions.

There are only two legitimate courses of action in serving China, IMO:  serve the market, doing your best to nudge things in the right direction over time, or don’t serve it at all. The strategy with the former is to build up some leverage so that if you do get into a pissing match with the government, at least you can claim a hostile foreign invesement climate and then take a stand. The latter approach is arguably more idealistic, but wouldn’t cause China to do a single thing differently. However, playing eager Igor to China’s Evil Mad Scientist is arguably the wrong approach.

For my part, besides blogging this, I’m done with Yahoo. They’re officially 404 to me.

Vote with your pocketbook and with your mouse.