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Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Suppressing Free Speech Online The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research Volume 10 Article 4 2009 Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Suppressing Free Speech Online Brittany Alexander St. John Fisher College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur Part of the International and Area Studies Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Recommended Citation Alexander, Brittany. "Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Suppressing Free Speech Online." The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research 10 (2009): 10-16. Web. [date of access]. <https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol10/iss1/4>. This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol10/iss1/4 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Suppressing Free Speech Online Abstract In lieu of an abstract, below is the first paragraph of the paper. Foreign governments censor the online activity of their citizens. Iran and China are the top two countries who have been known to censor, filter, and block content that contains any sexual, women's rights, and anti-governmental blogs or content. The American Search Engines Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo are helping these governments censor their people, thus limiting free speech and expression. Nothing can be done to stop foreign governments from suppressing their own people, but something can and should be done to prevent American Search engines from aiding these countries. This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/ vol10/iss1/4 Alexander: Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Suppressing Free Speech Online Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Suppressing Free Speech Online Brittany Alexander Foreign governments censor the online Voices Being Silenced in Every Hemisphere activity of their citizens. Iran and China are the American Internet companies, such as top two countries who have been known to Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, should cease censor, filter, and block content that contains aiding foreign governments in the censorship of any sexual, women's rights, and anti- internet websites, and they should do so as soon governmental blogs or content. The American as possible. Since the internet has become more Search Engines Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo user friendly and widely available, people all are helping these governments censor their over the world are able to access the World people, thus limiting free speech and expression. Wide Web. Sometimes the internet is the only Nothing can be done to stop foreign source of valuable information that is readily governments from suppressing their own people, available. In over 13 different countries but something can and should be done to prevent including two of the biggest online censoring American Search engines from aiding these perpetrators, China and Iran, the number of countries. journalistic stories on the internet far surpasses the number of printed stories (Wu 541). This Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Suppressing demonstrates how censoring and blocking Free Speech Online internet web sites, including news sites, would The forefathers of America realized the leave many people in the dark; an uniformed, importance of freedom of speech enough to give unaware, and suppressed public results. it a dignified place in the First Amendment of Enjoying the freedoms of nearly the U.S. Constitution. Yet it is a basic right we, unlimited information access, Americans can as Americans, often take for granted. The type any word in a search engine and uncover citizens of Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, thousands of informative web pages pertaining Cuba, and Belarus are censored by their to that user's topic of choice. Whether it is restrictive governments, especially via different political views, women's activism, gay cyberspace (Carvajal 1). The two most web and lesbian blogging, or just information on restrictive governments with the greatest number sexually transmitted diseases, online information of online filters, blocks, and people thrown in is literally at our finger tips. However, China's jail for free speech online are that of China and internet filters and censors block all sites Iran. Both countries have been known to throw containing Chinese government opposition, gay those who blog against the government into and lesbian information, and sexual content. The prison for lengthy sentences (Moaveni 2). In blocking of all sexual content websites does not particular, China has thrown its fair share of pertain to just porn sites. The Chinese outspoken anti-government, homosexual, and government literally blocks all sites with the women's rights bloggers in jail after sentencing word "sex" residing in the text. Gay and lesbian them in underground trails (Great Fire Wall 1). bloggers have been thrown in jail for "the Surprisingly, the companies helping these perversion of the Chinese internet with liberal governments restrict the speech of their people and immoral ideas." Similarly, in Iran, gay and online are American companies: Google, lesbian individuals have been prosecuted for Microsoft, and Yahoo. America is based on creating blogs about their homosexuality (Tsui democracy; yet three of its largest and most 70). Targeting certain individuals for voicing influential internet search engine companies are their opinions through the internet suppresses helping to limit free speech around the globe and attacks these citizens' freedoms immensely. (U.S. Web Giants 1). In many of these countries, not everyone has computer or internet access at home. Therefore, internet cafes are exceedingly popular and widely used. Because of the large 10 Published by Fisher Digital Publications, 2009 1 The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research, Vol. 10 [2009], Art. 4 number of citizens that use internet cafes, the persecution of internet users" (Kluver 320-321). government places a series of restrictions, Christopher Cox, representative for the GIFA censors, and blocks for the cafe users. However, bill wrote, "Unfettered access to the Internet when internet cafes fail to operate by the strict would play an integral role of opening up web standards, the government will personally Chinese society" (Kluver 322-323). Overall, the step in. Through censors on the available government has clearly stated it wants to end computers and the wireless web inside these internet censorship and suppression of free cafes, a signal or alarm is sent to a database speech. The American government also believes whenever someone accesses or creates a web ending censorship, particularly in China, would site with restricted content. This database is benefit web-censored societies around the world. checked constantly and any suspicious activity is Thus these U.S. government beliefs can be reported immediately to Chinese government applied to other internet-censored countries as officials. Every city has on call officers to take well. Yet, despite this American policy, Google, care of such activities. In particular, "the Yahoo, and Microsoft continue to aid foreign Chinese government orders clean-ups of all governments in suppressing freedom of speech internet cafes that fail to adequately register their through website censoring. users or block websites" (Tsui 68). For example, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft limiting in 2002, authorities swooped into an internet free speech overseas does not fairly solidify this cafe in Beijing, resulting in a fire that killed 24 argument as much as knowing the individual civilians. More than 3,000 internet cafes were stories of online suppression inflicted by these shut down that year. American companies. Initiating American China and Iran are not the only countries Search Engine control of internet censorship in that deserve the spotlight. Cuban government China was called the Public Pledge on Self officials censor by restricting access to the Discipline for the China Internet Industry. Over internet itself. "Out of 11 million resident one hundred companies voluntarily drafted and Cubans, only 40,000 people are allowed internet signed this pledge, two of which included Yahoo access and e-mail accounts" (Hamilton 195). and Google (Tsui 80). In order to achieve self- That means less than 1% of the entire population discipline for the Chinese Internet, Yahoo and is allowed internet access. These excessive Google used filters, blocks, and censors to blocks on internet access in Cuba restrict the monitor online content and searches. Thus these potential amounts of communication that could U.S. Internet companies have emerged as take place. Also, the knowledge and enforcers for Chinese suppression. It must be organization that could be potentially gained also stressed that these issues are, of course, not online for schools, workplaces, and homes is involving China alone. As noted in the immense, yet the government still ignores the beginning, this censorship through the aid of potential of internet access for all citizens. American companies is happening across the globe; there are just more profound incidents in American Search Engine Companies China. Censoring Overseas Try searching for terms like Although no one can stop foreign "democracy" or "human rights" on the Chinese governments from censoring the internet, version of Microsoft's blog tool; a white something could be done about Google, background with the words "Unauthorized
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