Yesterday, seemingly for the first time in years, Yahoo had cause to celebrate. Because after the company released a surprisingly robust earnings report, its share price enjoyed a very appreciative spike.
(Never mind that financial analysts still regard it as a tech has-been relative to the trailblazing and far more profitable Google.)
But Yahoo’s celebration had to have been bitter sweet. After all, a concurrent news report revealed that its top executives, including co-founder Jerry Yang, have been summoned by the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Lantos (D-CA), “to clarify” alleged lies they told in previous testimony about Yahoo’s “hand in glove” relationship with China’s secret police.
Last year, in sworn testimony before my subcommittee, a Yahoo! official testified that the company knew nothing ‘about the nature of the investigation’ into Shi Tao, a pro-democracy activist who is now serving 10 years on trumped-up charges…
We have now learned there is much more to the story than Yahoo let on, and a Chinese government document that Yahoo had in their possession at the time of the hearing left little doubt of the government’s intentions. [Committee member Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)]
However, with all due respect to Rep. Smith, here, in part, is what I wrote about Yahoo’s venality in this respect in September 2005 – in an article entitled Yahoo becomes China’s most-favored national thought police:
Only weeks ago, I published an article on the Orwellian Agreements that Yahoo, Microsoft and other technology companies signed with the Chinese government to spy on the Internet activities of Chinese citizens. Of course, back then, corporate chiefs at these companies protested with indignation that they would never become stool pigeons for China’s police state.
It came as no surprise therefore when international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders reported last week that Yahoo had helped the Chinese government entrap and sentence Chinese journalist Shi Tao to 10 years in prison (a.k.a. the Ministry of Love); And, his crime?
Shi Tao dared to use his e-mail account to post on the Internet a government order barring Chinese media from marking the 15th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on democracy activists in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square.
So it was clearly public knowledge over two years ago that Yahoo conspired with the Chinese government to commit this crime against humanity. Therefore, one can be forgiven incredulity at the shock and indignation Congressmen are expressing today over this story.
Meanwhile, Yahoo must be experiencing genuine shock and apprehension. After all, given the lapse in time, it probably felt certain that it would suffer no truth or consequence for its complicity.
No matter how belated, however, I am pleased that the chickens are finally coming home to roost for Yahoo! Indeed, kudos to Chairman Lantos for demanding that Yahoo testify about its police activities that led not only to Shi Tao’s political imprisonment, but that of many other (suspected) Chinese dissidents as well:
Our committee has established that Yahoo! provided false information to Congress in early 2006….We want to clarify how that happened, and to hold the company to account for its actions both before and after its testimony proved untrue.
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