Yahoo to Mull Over Free Expression Woes in Asia

Harassed online media practitioners and billions of reported information-deprived citizens in many Asian countries now have something to look forward to.

Internet search engine, Yahoo, is planning to sit on the issue of free expression on the Internet brought about by the reported curtailment of online information by several Asian governments.

"I think it's a subject matter we probably need to discuss further without public relations people," said Turochas "T" Fuad, head of Yahoo's mobile Connected Life department in South East Asia (SEA), during an exclusive interview with Computerworld Philippines at the CommunicAsia event in Singapore.

Fuad said it has always been Yahoo's stand to adhere to local government regulations of countries, being an international and global company.

"We are based out of the U.S. with offices around the world, and we have to respect the laws of countries to make sure that the type of content and service we show adhere to their regulations, rules, and laws," said Fuad.

However, such stance of Yahoo in submitting to laws and regulations of countries has been criticized as a "lame excuse" by members of the South East Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA) in curtailing the freedom of expression and information on the Internet, particularly in China--described as a huge online market with a population of 1.3 billion.

According to SEAPA members, such stance by Yahoo, and even its rival search engine Google, continue to compromise the well-being of users in exchange of business profits and was even touted as the "brain-shrinking" of citizens living in countries like Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Nepal, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Maldives, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

SEAPA recently reported that Yahoo and Google both stick to the "abiding of country laws" stance for business reasons--for them to be in Asian markets and make money.

"We do our business worldwide; regardless of where it is, we will adhere to local government regulations--and that's important to Yahoo," Fuad said, adding they always try to make sure that whatever product or service they launch, it is secure with the users, having their identities protected.

"If you create a Yahoo account, we make sure that your personal information is not distributed to anyone else," he stressed.

But when asked about Yahoo's alleged revelation to governments of the identities of some controversial online media practitioners, Fuad declined to comment.

Only recently, members of the Paris-based press freedom body Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF, also known by its English name Reporters without Borders) reported that aside from Yahoo and Google, IT companies such as Cisco and Microsoft have given in to pressure from the Chinese government to limit its citizens' access to information on the Internet.

RSF said that feeding user information to governments have resulted in the killing, harassment or imprisonment of many journalists, media assistants, and activists.

SEAPA executive director Roby Alampay, a Filipino journalist based in Bangkok, Thailand once said that the call for free expression in cyberspace is very significant, describing the Internet as "an important medium that must be kept accessible and free for everyone--even in countries living in closed societies or under a dictatorship."