FC: Journalist group asks China about blocking access to Google

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

News report:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-956243.html

----

Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 14:54:51 +0000
To: declan@well.com
From: Greg Walton <jamyang@openflows.org>
Subject: Your Excellency: Where is Google?


Declan,

 From the world-beyond-D.C. dept.


>September 4, 2002
>
>Committee to Protect Journalists
>330 Seventh Avenue, 12th floor
>New York, NY 10001
>
>His Excellency Jiang Zemin
>President, People's Republic of China
>C/o Embassy of the People's Republic of China
>2300 Connecticut Ave., NW
>Washington, D.C. 20008
>
>Via facsimile: (202) 588-0032
>
>Your Excellency:
>
>The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned by the Chinese
>government's apparent blocking of domestic access to the Google Internet
>search engine. Such censorship directly affects China-based journalists'
>ability to conduct research and impedes citizens' access to news that is
>unavailable in China's tightly controlled domestic media.
>
>On August 31, both the English and Chinese-language search engines operated
>by Google became inaccessible to Internet users in China. In a public
>statement, a spokesperson for Google confirmed that the site was blocked
>inside China and said that the government offered no explanation.
>
>Google is one of the most popular Internet search engines in China and one
>of the only sites that allows users unfettered access to information. Your
>government routinely blocks access to Web sites, including those of foreign
>news organizations and human rights groups, but this is the first time a
>search engine has been blocked.
>
>Legislation enacted on August 1 requires all China-based Web sites to censor
>their content or risk being closed down. As a result, most major
>Chinese-language search engines, including Yahoo's Chinese-language site,
>have filtered out the majority of sites containing information that is not
>sanctioned by your government, including independent reporting on political
>developments, human rights abuses, and the banned spiritual group Falun
>Gong. The U.S.-based Google has therefore become Chinese citizens' only
>means to access thousands of Web sites containing news and information that
>is unavailable inside China.
>
>We respectfully urge Your Excellency to take steps to ensure that
>authorities restore access to Google immediately and uphold the right to
>free expression as guaranteed in both the Chinese constitution and the
>International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has
>signed. We also call on you to ease restrictions requiring Internet
>companies in China to censor information in order to conduct business in
>your country.
>
>Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We await your
>response.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Ann Cooper
>Executive Director
>
>
>CC:
>Premier Zhu Rongji
>Yang Jiechi, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S.
>Clark T. Randt, U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
>Eric E. Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer, Google Inc.
>merican Society of Newspaper Editors
>Amnesty International
>Article 19 (United Kingdom)
>Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
>Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
>Freedom Forum
>Freedom House
>Human Rights Watch
>Index on Censorship
>International Center for Journalists
>International Federation of Journalists
>International PEN
>International Press Institute
>Lorne W. Craner, United States Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human
>Rights, and Labor
>The Newspaper Guild
>The North American Broadcasters Association
>Overseas Press Club
>Reporters Sans Frontières
>Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
>The Society of Professional Journalists
>World Association of Newspapers
>World Press Freedom Committee
>
>*************************
>Committee to Protect Journalists
>330 Seventh Avenue, 12th floor
>New York, NY 10001
>Tel: 212-465-1004
>Fax: 212-465-9568
>E-mail: asia@cpj.org
>Web: www.cpj.org






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