Chinese Prisoner Sues Yahoo Under Torture Victims Act

By Miguel Helft
Sci Tech Today

While several U.S. companies, including Cisco, Google, and Microsoft, have been criticized by human rights groups, which accuse them of helping the Chinese government monitor and censor the Internet in China, the lawsuit against Yahoo, filed under the Torture Victims Protection Act, may be the first of its kind against an Internet company.

A Chinese political prisoner and his wife have sued Yahoo in a U.S. court, accusing the company of abetting acts of torture by helping Chinese authorities identify political dissidents who were later beaten and imprisoned.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, may be the first of its kind against an Internet company for its activities in China.

Wang Xiaoning, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in China, according to the lawsuit; his wife, Yu Ling; and other unidentified plaintiffs seek damages and an injunction barring Yahoo from identifying dissidents to Chinese authorities.

"I hope to be able to have Yahoo promise that in the future they will stop this kind of wrongdoing," said Yu, speaking through an interpreter by telephone from San Francisco.

The lawsuit contends that Yahoo HK, a wholly owned Yahoo subsidiary based in Hong Kong, provided the police with information linking Wang to the postings.

Yahoo said it had not yet seen the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and could not comment on the allegations.

"Companies doing business in China are forced to comply with Chinese law," said Jim Cullinan, a spokesman for Yahoo.

When government officials present the company with a request for information about a Yahoo user, he said, "Yahoo China will not know whether the demand for information is for a legitimate criminal investigation or is going to be used to prosecute political dissidents."

Several U.S. Internet companies, including Cisco Systems, Google and Microsoft , have been criticized by some politicians and human rights groups, which accuse them of helping the government monitor and censor the Internet in China.

Human rights groups say that Yahoo has helped identify at least four people who have since been imprisoned for voicing dissent in cyberspace, including the journalist Shi Tao in 2004.