NUJ Urges Yahoo! Boycott

The National Union of Journalists is calling on its 40,000 members to boycott Yahoo! for allegations that it helped the Chinese government to identify and prosecute journalists and pro-democracy writers.

In a letter to Yahoo! Europe's vice president, Dominique Vidal, the union's new media council said that NUJ members have been unanimous in their condemnation of the internet service provider and portal.

"The Chinese government has an atrocious record of censorship and free expression and it is essential that the rest of the world publicly objects to and campaigns against this repressive regime," said Jeremy Dear, the general secretary of the NUJ.

"The NUJ regards Yahoo!'s actions as a completely unacceptable endorsement of the Chinese authorities. As a result, the NUJ will be cancelling all Yahoo!-operated services and advising all members to boycott Yahoo! until the company changes its irresponsible and unethical policy," Mr Dear added.

NUJ members are being advised to contact the union's new media council for advice on alternative email, group forum and portal services they can use.

Yahoo! has been under fire for several months from human rights groups over allegations that it had provided the Chinese government with information which led to the prosecution of journalists and pro-democracy writers.

Reporters Sans Frontières claimed in February that recently translated court documents showed Yahoo! helped the Chinese authorities to identify a dissident, Li Zhi, through his email address and user name.

In December 2003, Li was sentenced to eight years in prison for "inciting subversion" after posting online essays detailing cases of corruption among local government officials and cadres. Yahoo! said it had no knowledge of the case.

Last September, human rights groups claimed Yahoo! provided data that led to a 10-year jail term for a journalist, Shi Tao.