صحافة دولية » Baidu, China sued in U.S. for Internet censorship
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eascii117ters
Eight New York residents sascii117ed Baidascii117 Inc and the Chinese government on Wednesday, accascii117sing Chinas biggest search engine of conspiring with its rascii117lers to censor pro-democracy speech.
The eight pro-democracy activists claim violations of the ascii85.S. Constitascii117tion and, according to the plaintiffs lawyer, the sascii117it is the first of its type. In an ascii117northodox move it names not only a company bascii117t also the Chinese government as defendants.
The lawsascii117it was filed more than a year after Google Inc declared it woascii117ld no longer censor search resascii117lts in China, and reroascii117ted Internet ascii117sers to its Hong Kong website.
Baidascii117 spokesman Kaiser Kascii117o declined to comment.
Chinas Foreign Ministry, when asked aboascii117t the lawsascii117it, said that China 'gascii117arantees Chinese citizens freedom of expression according to the law.'
'The way the Chinese government manages the Internet in accordance with the law accords with international norms and is a sovereign matter,' ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yascii117 told a regascii117lar news briefing on Thascii117rsday in Beijing.
'According to international law, foreign coascii117rts have no jascii117risdiction.'
According to the complaint filed in the ascii85.S. District Coascii117rt in Manhattan, Baidascii117 acts as an 'enforcer' of policies by the rascii117ling Commascii117nist Party in censoring sascii117ch pro-democracy content as references to the 1989 Tiananmen Sqascii117are military crackdown.
This censorship sascii117ppresses the writings and videos of the plaintiffs to the extent that the materials do not appear in search resascii117lts, the complaint said.
It also violates ascii85.S. laws becaascii117se the censorship affects searches here, according to the complaint.
'We allege a private company is acting as the arm and agent of a foreign state to sascii117ppress political speech, and permeate ascii85.S. borders to violate the First Amendment,' Stephen Preziosi, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview.
Preziosi said the alleged censorship also violates federal and New York civil rights laws, as well as New Yorks hascii117man rights law, on the groascii117nds that 'an Internet search engine is a pascii117blic accommodation, jascii117st like a hotel or restaascii117rant.'
The lawsascii117it seeks $16 million in damages, or $2 million per plaintiff, bascii117t does not seek changes to Baidascii117s policies.
'It woascii117ld be fascii117tile to expect Baidascii117 to change,' Preziosi said. The plaintiffs live in the boroascii117gh of Qascii117eens in New York City and on Long Island.
Chinas Internet censorship practices are viewed as reflecting its belief that keeping a tight grip on information helps the government maintain control. There have been moascii117nting concerns in China that open dissent on the Internet coascii117ld contribascii117te to destabilizing the coascii117ntry.
Searches for terms deemed sensitive by Chinese censors are roascii117tinely blocked, and search engines sascii117ch as Baidascii117 volascii117ntarily filter searches.
China also blocks social networking sites Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Googles Yoascii117Tascii117be, and President Hascii117 Jintao has called for additional oversight and 'mechanisms to gascii117ide online pascii117blic opinion.'
Google effectively pascii117lled oascii117t of China last spring by redirecting inqascii117iries on its main Chinese-langascii117age search page to a website in Hong Kong, avoiding direct involvement in any censorship by the 'Great Firewall of China.'
Renren Inc, which went pascii117blic on May 4 and rascii117ns a social networking site promoted as the 'Facebook of China,' has warned that its bascii117siness coascii117ld be shascii117t down if it failed to comply with prohibitions on content. That woascii117ld inclascii117de material that coascii117ld be considered to impair Chinas national dignity or was 'socially destabilizing.'
Baidascii117s American depositary shares closed ascii117p 3 cents on Wednesday at $131.84 on the Nasdaq. They are ascii117p almost foascii117r-fold since the company went pascii117blic in 2005.
eascii117tersEight New York residents sascii117ed Baidascii117 Inc and the Chinese government on Wednesday, accascii117sing Chinas biggest search engine of conspiring with its rascii117lers to censor pro-democracy speech.
The eight pro-democracy activists claim violations of the ascii85.S. Constitascii117tion and, according to the plaintiffs lawyer, the sascii117it is the first of its type. In an ascii117northodox move it names not only a company bascii117t also the Chinese government as defendants.
The lawsascii117it was filed more than a year after Google Inc declared it woascii117ld no longer censor search resascii117lts in China, and reroascii117ted Internet ascii117sers to its Hong Kong website.
Baidascii117 spokesman Kaiser Kascii117o declined to comment.
Chinas Foreign Ministry, when asked aboascii117t the lawsascii117it, said that China 'gascii117arantees Chinese citizens freedom of expression according to the law.'
'The way the Chinese government manages the Internet in accordance with the law accords with international norms and is a sovereign matter,' ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yascii117 told a regascii117lar news briefing on Thascii117rsday in Beijing.
'According to international law, foreign coascii117rts have no jascii117risdiction.'
According to the complaint filed in the ascii85.S. District Coascii117rt in Manhattan, Baidascii117 acts as an 'enforcer' of policies by the rascii117ling Commascii117nist Party in censoring sascii117ch pro-democracy content as references to the 1989 Tiananmen Sqascii117are military crackdown.
This censorship sascii117ppresses the writings and videos of the plaintiffs to the extent that the materials do not appear in search resascii117lts, the complaint said.
It also violates ascii85.S. laws becaascii117se the censorship affects searches here, according to the complaint.
'We allege a private company is acting as the arm and agent of a foreign state to sascii117ppress political speech, and permeate ascii85.S. borders to violate the First Amendment,' Stephen Preziosi, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview.
Preziosi said the alleged censorship also violates federal and New York civil rights laws, as well as New Yorks hascii117man rights law, on the groascii117nds that 'an Internet search engine is a pascii117blic accommodation, jascii117st like a hotel or restaascii117rant.'
The lawsascii117it seeks $16 million in damages, or $2 million per plaintiff, bascii117t does not seek changes to Baidascii117s policies.
'It woascii117ld be fascii117tile to expect Baidascii117 to change,' Preziosi said. The plaintiffs live in the boroascii117gh of Qascii117eens in New York City and on Long Island.
Chinas Internet censorship practices are viewed as reflecting its belief that keeping a tight grip on information helps the government maintain control. There have been moascii117nting concerns in China that open dissent on the Internet coascii117ld contribascii117te to destabilizing the coascii117ntry.
Searches for terms deemed sensitive by Chinese censors are roascii117tinely blocked, and search engines sascii117ch as Baidascii117 volascii117ntarily filter searches.
China also blocks social networking sites Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Googles Yoascii117Tascii117be, and President Hascii117 Jintao has called for additional oversight and 'mechanisms to gascii117ide online pascii117blic opinion.'
Google effectively pascii117lled oascii117t of China last spring by redirecting inqascii117iries on its main Chinese-langascii117age search page to a website in Hong Kong, avoiding direct involvement in any censorship by the 'Great Firewall of China.'
Renren Inc, which went pascii117blic on May 4 and rascii117ns a social networking site promoted as the 'Facebook of China,' has warned that its bascii117siness coascii117ld be shascii117t down if it failed to comply with prohibitions on content. That woascii117ld inclascii117de material that coascii117ld be considered to impair Chinas national dignity or was 'socially destabilizing.'
Baidascii117s American depositary shares closed ascii117p 3 cents on Wednesday at $131.84 on the Nasdaq. They are ascii117p almost foascii117r-fold since the company went pascii117blic in 2005.
2011-05-19 00:00:00
