Boycott Yahoo over China?

Yahoo hands over yet another dissident

[Eurydice]

Several of my clients have began to talk about pausing or shutting down their Yahoo PPC because of what Yahoo is doing in China.

Three people have been arrested. Yahoo handed them over to the Chinese government. In the latest case, the fellow's emails were in DRAFT; Yahoo searched his draft emails and turned him over anyway. This is going beyond just complying with the local law.

Maybe a boycott of Yahoo PPC might get some attention at Yahoo.

[john_k]

Yahoo handed them over to the Chinese government

Please get your facts straight before making claims like this. I think you mean the Chinese government demanded data from Yahoo and Yahoo complied.

Since Yahoo is only complying with Chinese law, and it is actually the government of China that is demanding the data and then doing the arresting, why don't your clients boycott China (and products produced in China) instead?

[Eurydice]

Yes, go ahead and get the facts. Use your search engine (if you're outside of China) and search for Jiang Lijun Shi Tao, or Li Zhi. They are three dissidents who used Yahoo accounts and were arrested.

I will pass along to my clients your suggestion that they boycott products made in China.

Since you approve of boycotting products, can I assume you'll support a boycott of Yahoo?

[john_k]

First assumptions about Yahoo. Now assumptions about me. I didn't say (and am still not saying) anything about my level of support of any type of boycott. I simply said that since it is the government of China that is taking action, and Yahoo is merely complying with the laws of China, that your clients point their fingers at China, and not at Yahoo.

Companies that want to do business in China do not have the luxury of picking which laws/regulations/policies they will choose to honor. When you purchase products made in China, you should be aware that they are available only because other companies are exploiting the same people and complying with those same laws.

Flip the coin. If Yahoo had refused to hand over data to the Chinese government and thereby been banned from doing any business or transmitting any data in/out of China, would your clients be standing up to send "atta-boy" donations to Yahoo to replace their lost revenue?