Fergie's Tech Blog

Yahoo! Gift Causes Controversy

K. Oanh Ha writes in The Mercury News:

A prestigious journalism fellowship says it has no plans to return a $1 million grant from Yahoo, despite a spirited debate over the firm's record on freedom of expression. But the director of the John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University said the program is considering holding a forum to engage Yahoo and other media companies about operating in repressive countries.

Yahoo intended the donation to "demonstrate our support for freedom of expression," said a spokeswoman, but it has instead revived attention to the company's controversial practices in China, where it has turned over user information to Chinese authorities. The Sunnyvale firm has supplied information to Chinese law enforcement that led to the arrest of two journalists and two other Chinese dissidents, according to Human Rights Watch.

posted by Fergie @ 10/11/2006 09:47:00 PM