Microsoft Going Red?
My very good friend John Robinson brought the following situation to my attention and I am very glad that he did… It seems that Microsoft is again prioritizing the needs and desires of an oppressive Chinese government ahead of freedom of speech (article from the Toronto Star).
“Microsoft Corp. has shut down the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger that discussed politically sensitive issues, including a recent strike at a Beijing newspaper.”
Wow. This kind of behavior baffles me and will continue to baffle me after someone raises their hand as says, “Yes, but, check out this…”
“Richardson said the blog was shut down Dec. 30 or Dec. 31 for violating Microsoft’s code of conduct, which states that users must obey the laws of the country in which they are based.”
Sorry, I still don’t get it. Why is it that we fight so passionately for certain freedoms and privileges in our own communities, yet so readily contribute to the oppression of others when it involves money? Am I being too obtuse about this, or is there something inherently wrong with multinationals taking such action?
Here’s a bit more:
“Microsoft’s Web log service bars use of terms such as ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights.’… On the China-based portal of search engine Google, a search for material on the Dalai Lama, Taiwan and other sensitive topics returns a message saying ’site cannot be found.’… Web portal Yahoo was criticized last year after it provided information that was used to convict a Chinese reporter on charges of revealing state secrets.”
Why is it that a US corporation that tries to send milk to starving Cuban families will get a very hard smack on the wrist by the US Government, yet when Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and a host of other businesses not only hold the duct tape, but also have a hand in affixing it over a person’s mouth, nothing happens? Something is not right here…
[Update]: I was just reading The Business Ethics Blog and saw Chris MacDonald’s post about the same topic. He does an excellent job of laying out the issues involved including the ethical dynamic that, “companies have an ethical obligation to comply with local law [when doing business in other countries].” It is a great read and I’d recommend that everyone check it out.
TAGS: This entry was posted on Friday, January 6th, 2006 at 9:18 pm and is filed under Business Ethics, Business Strategy, CalPoly MBA, China, Corporate Social Responsibility, Interesting News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.