Yahoo, Google and Microsoft have joined together in promoting the right of free speech on the Web even as the advocacy groups pressurized them. These three prominent Internet companies have partnered to initiate a movement, which demands protection for human rights, privacy and free expression.
The past two years has seen these companies working together with a host of human rights organizations, investors, IT leaders, academics and communications technology companies to combat and address these issues which arise as their reach broadens internationally.
Policies and laws, which impede on the expression of free speech and privacy are dealt with in this initiative which was launched on Tuesday. According to Yahoo CEO, Jerry Yang, the company was founded based on a strong belief and commitment to enrich people’s lives through unrestricted information access.
Principles like this pave way for companies like Yahoo to enter and capture markets around the world where information is unfairly restricted. This initiative was propelled by Yahoo following criticisms against its supply of certain information to the government of China leading to the arrest of the concerned dissidents. Google’s troubles started when the company complied to the Chinese government demands to filter search results.
In compliance with the restrictions imposed by the government of China, MSN and Yahoo also effectively filter search results. All these companies have problems trying to enter huge global markets even while complying with restrictions in certain nations. Vodafone and France Telecom are the two companies from Europe, which are a part of this initiative as the restrictive guidelines principally target telecommunication companies.
