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October 28, 2008

This could be a real force for good in the world

Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. will announce Tuesday that they have agreed to a common set of principles for how to do business in nations that restrict free speech and expression, as the companies seek to combat criticism that they have helped enable censorship in those countries.

Under the new principles, which were crafted over two years, the technology titans promise to protect the personal information of their users wherever they do business and to "narrowly interpret and implement government demands that compromise privacy," according to the code. They also commit to scrutinizing a country's track record of jeopardizing personal information and freedom of expression before launching new businesses in a country and to discussing the risks widely with their executives and board members.

The document -- introduced under an entity known as the Global Network Initiative -- was crafted by a group of participants including human rights groups like Human Rights First and Committee to Protect Journalists. Nonprofits the Center for Democracy and Technology and Business for Social Responsibility also participated. The companies agreed to have their compliance with the new principles monitored by independent experts.

I doubt that this will influence compliance in China, where there is simply too much money on the line and the country is simply too strong to have to put up with any nonsense from foreign corporations. However, I could see this working with smaller and less powerful countries, and that certainly would be an improvement. But I wonder if this will only apply to tin-pot dictatorships or these companies will have the courage to stand up to anti-free speech issues in Europ and campaign finance issues in the US. I'd like to think so but I doubt it.

Posted by OneEyedMan at October 28, 2008 7:46 AM

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