Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang told an investor group today that while he might not feel good about Yahoo!’s censorship concessions in China, he thinks it would be worse for Yahoo! to not do business there. Yang, who spearheads the Internet giant’s business development in China, said “We have unfortunate incidences. [such as the jailing of a journalist based on Yahoo!’s hand-over of the journalist’s Internet records] Those are never things you go home and feel good about.”
But, he said, “our choices are to comply or to not be in the market,” with Yahoo deciding that it’s better to at least be an active participant in the development of China’s Internet market. This, of course, is what all the Internet companies that do business in China say, and the rationale doesn’t carry a lot of weight with critics of censorship capitulation.
Yang does say, however, that there are signs of improvement, presumably meaning that the Chinese government is relenting somewhat on its onerous censorship policies. “Being in the market there and being on the ground we do see changes that are positive,” he said.
Nevertheless, Yahoo! has every intention of abiding by the Chinese government’s rules. “If you want to do business there, you have to comply,” Yang said.
Cynthia Brumfield at 1:18 PM|Comments(0)
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