Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Others Adopt Online Code of Conduct

Led by Yahoo!, a group of large internet companies have adopted a human rights code of conduct to help protect free speech and the right to disagree with a country's policies. The policy is designed to encourage companies to resist aiding governments who want to crack down on free speech by dissidents, and to comply as narrowly as possible when they are compelled to do so.

In the past, companies have been criticized for their willingness to acceded to governments' demands. Now, however, with a code that says that individuals have a right to privacy, these companies will need to be more resistant when they are asked to limit speech or turn over surfing habits of dissidents.

Some human rights proponents are decrying the code of conduct as too limited. However, considering we had no agreement and no standards before this, I consider this to be a step in the right direction. Now we can hold companies up to a standard, and we can justifiably criticize them when they fail to meet their obligations. I hope, though, that far more often we will be praising companies for meeting their human rights obligations on the internet.