Congress Vs. China’s Censorship Abetters

After my post on January 11, “Cool Tools for Tyrants,” I received an email from a Congressional aide that he was forwarding it around the Hill. Apparently, many such blog posts, and the protests of human rights organizations around the world, are getting circulated among Congressmen.

Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ) has announced hearings of his House subcommittee on human rights. The Boston Globe report, byline Hiawatha Bray, says that Smith believes a law is needed “as the only way to stop US firms from cooperating with overseas censorship.” Quoting Smith: “Call them [China] on their bluff….We want an amelioration of your behavior, or we will not do business with you.”

Democrat Representative Tim Ryan (Ohio) agrees: “There are a lot of people in Congress who are very, very concerned.” Ryan is a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which plans hearings on the matter in February.

Congress created the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. It calls “for legislation requiring American Internet firms to demand a court order from Chinese authorities before revealing information about a user…[and to] require US Internet companies to report such information requests to the US government.” US firms have just been acting voluntarily to censor to curry favor with their Chinese paymasters.

If Congress follows-through, count this one as a victory for the blogosphere. More important, future leaders from oppressed nations may think better of the US that defends their struggles, than of a US that defends the tyranny-tinged profits of Cisco, Microsoft, Yahoo! or Google.