Amidst much criticism for cooperating with the Chinese government in internet censorship, and facing a lawsuit from jailed journalist Shi Tao for turning over information that helped convict him, Yahoo released a statement on Monday expressing dismay “that citizens in China have been imprisoned for expressing their political views on the Internet.” But proposals to put a stop to censorship and to form a human rights committee within the company has been shot down by shareholders. From the BBC:
Yahoo shareholders have rejected plans for the company to adopt a policy that opposes censorship on the internet.
Proposals to set up a human rights committee which would review its policies around the world, specifically China, were also heavily defeated.
At the company’s annual general meeting, the censorship proposal won only about 15% of support while only 4% backed the idea of a human rights committee.[Full text]
See also Yahoo Blasts China on Freedom of Speech from CNN for more details on the statement Yahoo released on Monday.
