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Yahoo! Don't Violate Human Rights

Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, is serving a ten-year prison sentence for sending an email to the U.S. Yahoo! helped put him there. They provided information to the Chinese Government, which led to his unjust imprisonment. Yahoo! needs to hear from people like you and me in droves. Corporations like Yahoo! are very sensitive to public outcry. We must tell Yahoo! that we won't stand for violating privacy and ask them to use their influence to secure Shi Tao's release. » Learn more

Many activists have reported to us that their emails to Yahoo! executives are being blocked. To be sure your message gets through, send it by fax, snail mail, or make a phone call! If you are a Yahoo! user, you can contact their customer care by phone or using a web form.

Tel: (408) 349-3300
Fax: (408) 349-3301
Yahoo! Customer Care: 408-349-1572

Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, California 94089

Fill out the Yahoo! web form for reporting abuse. Where it asks "Who are you writing to report," type in Jerry Yang and David Filo, then fill out the feedback box expressing your concern about the ways Yahoo! is aiding human rights abuses.

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Message Recipients

Michael Callahan - Senior VP General Counsel

Gregory Coleman - Exec VP Global Advertising Sales

David Filo - Co-founder

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Jerry Yang - Co-founder, Yahoo! Inc.

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Subject:*

Dear (recipient name),

On April 27, 2005, Chinese journalist Shi Tao received a ten-year prison term for sending information about a Communist Party decision through his Yahoo! email account to a website based in the United States. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience, as he was imprisoned for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and opinion. I am writing to express my sustained concern that Yahoo! has yet to adequately address the human rights impacts of its operations.

Despite Yahoo!’s announcement of a Business and Human Rights program and its participation in the Global Network Initiative, I remain concerned about Yahoo!’s commitment to human rights values considering that:

•	Yahoo! still has not rescinded or removed itself from the Chinese self-discipline pledges it signed even after significant pressure from Congress and a civil lawsuit from families of imprisoned journalists and activists.
•	Yahoo! has yet to make a public plea to the Chinese government calling for the release of Shi Tao and other prisoners of conscience.
•	Yahoo! has made little effort to use legal recourse to fight censorship demands and continues to proactively restrict search results in its Chinese search engine.
 
As Amnesty International has previously expressed, compliance with locally-mandated restrictions is not a justification for neglecting international human rights responsibilities, whether a company acts alone or with local partners.
 
Access to and the use of Internet in China remains highly restricted and at least 50 people, including Shi Tao, Yang Tongyan and Huang Jinqiu are in prison for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression.  According to Amnesty International, numerous websites have been closed down over recent months.  Amnesty’s own website has been blocked. We call on Internet companies including Yahoo! to demonstrate leadership in ensuring they are not a party to censorship, but are truly a force for greater Internet freedom in the world.
 
Nothing in the Global Network Initiative prevents Yahoo! or other companies from pro-actively addressing inadequate policies and practices regarding the protection of human rights, and I encourage you to be a leader against censorship, not just in China, but around the world, as Yahoo! expands into other markets with equally complex human rights environments.
 
Therefore I urge Yahoo! to:
 
- Ensure that it takes all possible legitimate action to avoid complying with, and to challenge, government requests that violate or may have a negative impact on human rights.
- Be transparent about filtering processes used to limit or restrict search results, including informing users and disclosing which terms are being censored.
- Provide access to independent monitoring and evaluation of its implementation of human rights principles and policies.
- Ensure its key business partners, such as Alibaba, abide by the same principles. 
- Support U.S. legislation, such as the Global Online Freedom Act, which would allow the US government to help companies stand up to repressive regimes in which they operate. 
- Call on the Chinese Government to release Shi Tao, Yang Tongyan, Huang Jinqiu, and all others detained for their peaceful and legitimate use of the Internet.
 
Thank you for your attention. I look forward to hearing of any progress your company makes in fulfilling these requests.

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