“We are required to follow the laws of those countries and that’s what we’ve done,” says Jim Cullinan, a Yahoo spokesman. “Law enforcement agencies in China and elsewhere don’t explain to us or telecom companies or anyone the reason why they’re demanding specific information. We can’t tell the difference between a legitimate national security issue and something else.”
Cullinan says Yahoo is strongly opposed to repression of free speech and is working to develop a set of operating principles to guide its engagement in countries with repressive governments. He adds that Yahoo had not heard of Wang’s case until now, though it was widely reported last year.
“We haven’t seen the court documents,” he says. “But we condemn what happened.” [Full Text]