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Major Google, Yahoo Stockholder Says Both Companies Need Human Rights StandardsMajor Google, Yahoo Stockholder Says Both Companies Need Human Rights Standards
The New York City Pension Fund, which holds nearly $400 million worth of shares in Google and Yahoo, adopted a resolution saying all U.S. technology companies that operate in authoritarian nations have an obligation to comply with the human rights principles set by the United Nations.
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The New York City Pension Fund, which holds nearly $400 million worth of shares in Google and Yahoo, called on both companies to adopt standards to help protect freedom of access to the Internet in authoritarian nations, including China.
The standards were contained in a resolution sent to each company and unveiled Thursday by City Comptroller William C. Thompson. The documents say all U.S. technology companies that operate in authoritarian nations have an obligation to comply with the human rights principles set by the United Nations.
Both Silicon Valley Internet companies have been criticized by human rights advocates for cooperating with the Chinese government in its efforts to control the flow of information from the Internet. Google has a Chinese version of its search engine, and Yahoo owns a 40% stake in Chinese marketplace Alibaba.com, which runs the portal's operations in that country.
The N.Y. pension fund holds $276 million in Google stock, and $111 million worth of Yahoo shares.
Free press advocates welcomed the pension fund's decision to push the companies to take a tougher stand against Internet-restricting nations. "The New York City Pension Fund's involvement is excellent news because it is an investor with both financial and symbolic weight," Reporters Without Borders said.
Google and Yahoo will offer the resolution to their shareholders.
Google said in a statement, "We, like our shareholders, place great importance on conducting business at home and abroad in an ethical and legal manner," Google said. The company plans to offer the resolution to its shareholders at its next meeting. Yahoo said in a statement, "We respect the work of socially responsible investors and are committed to open communication with our shareholders about this proposal as well as Yahoo's business, strategy, and policies."
Yahoo added, "We are deeply concerned about this issue and have been deeply engaged in discussions with industry, government, academia and NGO's (non-governmental organizations) to explore policies to guide industry practices in countries where content is treated more restrictively than in the United States and to promote the principles of freedom of speech and expression."
Google and Yahoo both say they have a policy of following local laws when operating in foreign nations. They also have called on other technology companies to join them in establishing industry-wide practices.
The pension fund's resolutions asked Google and Yahoo management to adopt six minimum standards to protect human rights, including:
Refraining from hosting information in Internet-restrictive countries that could identify individuals where political speech can be treated as a crime.
Refraining from proactive censorship, and using all legal means to resist demands for censorship. But the companies could comply with censorship demands if required to do so through legally binding procedures.
Clearly informing users when content they are trying to access has been filtered or censored. Users should be told about data retention practices and the ways in which data is shared with third parties.
Documenting all cases where censorship requests have been complied with, and making that information publicly available.
Countries targeted in the resolutions were Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
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