Fergie's Tech Blog

Yahoo! and MSN Assisting China in Identifying Tibetan Rioters - UPDATE

Via IndyBay - South Bay Newswire.

Yahoo China pasted a "most wanted" poster across its homepage today in aid of the police's witch-hunt for 24 Tibetans accused of taking part in the recent riots. MSN China made the same move, although it didn't go as far as publishing the list on its homepage.

The "most wanted" poster has been published on several Chinese portals like Sina.com and news.qq.com. It reads "The Chinese police have issued a warrant for the arrest of suspected rioters in Tibet" and offers rewards for web users who are willing to help. Along with the text are photos of Tibetans taken during the riots. Of the 24 on the list, two have already been caught.

Yahoo's human rights values have been under fire since it was revealed that the company helped the Chinese police in its inquiry over the journalist Shi Tao, who had an email account with Yahoo. He was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2005 for "divulging state secrets". After that case, it was also found out that Yahoo had provided evidence against at least three other Chinese dissidents. Following the allegations, the company had to offer an explanation to the American congress. It defended itself by explaining that the management of its operational arm in China had been delegated to Alibaba.

posted by Fergie @ 3/21/2008 10:36:00 AM