The media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders says Yahoo gave Chinese authorities information that helped track down a journalist who wrote an e-mail about press restrictions.
A French media watchdog said Tuesday that information provided by Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. helped Chinese authorities convict and jail a journalist who had written an e-mail about press restrictions. The criticism from Reporters Without Borders marks the latest instance in which a prominent high-tech company has faced accusations of cooperating with Chinese authorities to gain favor in a country that"s expected to become an Internet gold mine. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo and two of its biggest rivals, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp."s MSN, previously have come under attack for censoring online news sites and Web logs, or blogs, that include content that China"s communist government wants to suppress.
Reporters Without Borders ridiculed Yahoo, saying it was becoming even cozier with the Chinese government by allowing itself to become a police informant in a case that led to the recent conviction of Chinese journalist Shi Tao. His conviction stemmed from an e-mail he sent containing his notes on a government circular that spelled out restrictions on the media.