Critique of Shi Tao vs. Yahoo Case - Term Paper Example

Based on information provided by Yahoo, to the communist government of China, Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist was arrested and incarcerated for 10 years for the crime of leaking state secrets to outsiders (Chin). This is one of the many examples of democracy and press freedom on trial in a country that is the world’s biggest democracy but only in terms of population because the laws that have been enforced curtailing the freedom of expression severely delimit the quality of the said democracy. Yahoo’s involvement in his arrest bespeaks complacency and poor moral ethics and this is further evidence in the fact that they had initially denied knowledge of the action which clearly means they were ashamed them. This paper will endeavor to analyses and critique the Shi Tao vs. Yahoo case study by applying several moral frameworks through which the ethicalness of Yahoos actions will be critiqued. These frameworks are; the Utilitarian, the publicity and Principle of Human Dignity and Infinite Worth with the intention of proving that yahoo acted in an unethical way and betrayed its users by compromising Tao’s safety for the sake of sustaining their business interest in China. Shi Tao, a journalist with China’s Business time news had posted information on how the government had intended to curtail the celebration of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protest by ordering journalists and media houses not to address the matter. He posted the information on an online forum based in New York, consequently the Chines State bureau sought Yahoos help in apprehending him and the latter provided information that led to the location of his IP address and then to his office computer, after which he was arrested and convicted. After the conviction, reporters without boarders exposed yahoos role in the matter and although the firm initially denied any knowledge as to why they were asked from the information they later admitted. In justification, yahoo claimed that they were obliged to conform to the laws of the country which required they share information with the state. The firm nonetheless came under fire from various critiques who challenged the legitimacy and morality for their actions accusing them of acting as police informers on Dissidents. Lui Xiabo, one China’s prominent Chinese dissidents accused Yahoo of failing to respect the rights of Shi in because they let their business interests dull their moral sensibility (Dickie). Other critics said that if the firm acknowledges their actions were not ethical, they should be willing to pull out of the country because conforming to unethical laws made them no different from the regime. This issues had far reaching effects as the action of other firms such as google in China were also criticized since they are also complacent in letting the government censor the intent content in China. The study examines the solutions that have been proposed to deal with the issue such as having America come up with its own laws against undemocratic practices so American firms are not compelled to expose their clients information. The study concludes with an example of Google’s attempt to fight censorship which has seen its searches in mainland China limited to products sporting goods and a few maps only (Danny and Neil 221). By providing information that led to the arrest of Mr Tao, Yahoo failed in its moral and legal obligations to him as a customer and to the people of China in general and in Lui Xiabos words, they acted as a traitor to him. Under the utilitarian moral framework, it is provided that one should always act in manner that produces the greatest good and least pain for the majority of people involved in an action or situation (Piazza and Landy 642). From this perspective yahoo clearly failed to live up to the utilitarian morality, in their justification for the action, they claim that they were forced to act by the laws of the country in which they were operating. This lets them allow a man to be imprisoned and this family to suffer from what is not considered a crime in their own county. Yahoo would argue that under the current framework, he was a necessary victim or collateral damage to safeguard the availability of internet access to the majority of the Chinese public. However, it is only form a very myopic perspective that the injury to Tao can be seen as personal. The fact that a man could be imprisoned for expressing his freedom is the embodiment of impunity and intolerance, which in the end serves to promote injustice in China with yahoo being used as political and tool by the dictatorship. The direct injury may have been inflicted on Tao and his immediate family but the overall affront is to the whole of China with his imprisonment setting a precedent and serving as representation of the underlying disenfranchisement of the Chinese peoples’ freedoms. In the end, the actions of yahoo do not serve to preserve the freedom the larger Chinese society by sacrificing that of Tao; instead, contrary to the principle of utilitarian morality, they only use the denial of freedom of a minority to propagate the subjugation of the many. The second framework in support of the argument that Yahoo acted immorally and betrayed Tao is the publicity framework. Under this, one needs to ask if they would be willing to have their actions known to the public, would yahoo for instance have liked their cooperation with the communist government that ended in Taos imprisonment to be in the front pages? When one uses the publicity principle, the main test of the morality of their actions is based on their willingness to publicly stand by them and acknowledge and/or justify them. In this respect, Yahoos failed to live up to the requirements of the framework since the first reaction after they were publicly questioned about their actions they initially denied having known what was likely to be the result of their cooperation with the Chinese government. When it was proved they did know the consequences, they shifted their defense to claiming that they had no choice since they either had to comply they would be forced to stop their operations in China because, “that is how business is done”. Evidently, yahoo was ashamed of their actions and if they had their way, their involvement in Tao’s prosecution and conviction would have stayed outside the public domain. Yahoo’s supporters may argue that their denial was based on business common sense since it would not do to have the public develop a negative attitude toward the firm otherwise it would suffer financially. However, keeping such secrets makes the firm no different from the government of China, any other oppressive entity out there since the public has the right to information, and it is up to them to make their own conclusion without being manipulated by being fed false or incomplete information. The final framework under which the argument in the paper is studied is grounded on the Principle of Human Dignity and Infinite Worth, under this framework, a human life is considered infinitely valuable (Allen and Patrick 961) and should under no circumstances be sacrificed for the sake of business of other interests etc. Therefore, one should not justify convenience or collective good that occurs to other people because of deliberately hurting an individual since they in no way compensate for the harm done. In Tao’s case, yahoo however seem to have taken the contrary position by assuming, as articulated in their defense, that in the end more people would suffer if yahoo was not operational in China thus justifying their betrayal of Tao. This reasoning is clearly dependent on the assumption that it is more convenience for Tao to suffer for the sake of the greater good of the Chinese and the company itself, nevertheless, sacrificing the man for the sake of convenience undermines the infiniteness of his dignity’s worth. The suitability of this framework could be reasonably attacked because the infiniteness of human dignity is not in itself practical as it assigns equal worth to an individual and a society. Therefore, in Tao’s case, it would make no sense to assume that his dignity and convenience is as valuable as those of the collective Chinese people who would have suffered if yahoo had been force to withdraw. However while conceding that the framework is weak in this respect, this particular weakness cannot water down the underlying argument since as aforementioned the freedom of everyone not just Tao was indirectly affected by the state’s and yahoo’s action. Ultimately his worth and dignity in this case was not in opposition to the convenience of the Chinese peoples’ but representative of it; therefore yahoo did not just betray him but also the many who would not be able to post their true feelings online in fear of similar consequences. Professionals cannot effectively fulfill their mandate to their customers and the community at large unless they adhere to certain moral principles however having principles and adhering to them is not the same thing as the above case study has proven. One of the key principles professionals should abide by is integrity, this implies that they always ensure to exercise good judgment and stick to the ethical code of their respective institutions. For example, if a firm has a code of conduct that requires they respect their clients privacy the managers should ensure they do not share private information with a third party irrespective of the circumstances especially when it could result in dire consequences. In the cases study analyzed in this paper, yahoo clearly deviates from its code of ethics, which should guarantee the safety, and confidentiality of data. Secondly, there is fidelity, professionals are ethically bound to respect and be faithful to their clients and show allegiance to public trust by protecting their interests to the best of their ability. As part of their social corporate responsibility, firms should ensure that their actions do not jeopardize the lives and rights of anyone who is either directly or indirectly affected by them. In Tao’s case, he had entrusted his safety to yahoo by virtue of the fact that he was using an anonymous email, a provision which yahoo had allowed. However, by revealing his identity and location to the state, yahoo clearly acted in breach of its ethical fidelity to him and as a consequence he not only lost his freedom but his family was also broken apart. Professionals should also be honest and take responsibility of their actions, for example when a professional makes an error they should not hide behind lies neither should they try to justify their actions but accept responsibility for their actions. Yahoo eschewed this value in the fact that after they were found to have cooperated with the Chinese government, they first admitted to having no knowledge of what the information they presented would be used for but later acquiesced that they were forced to corporate for the sake of business. This case study presents deep implication for professional and firms especially multinationals like yahoo, which often have to work in diverse environments, which portend radically different legal and social political realities. The crime for which Tao was convicted and prosecuted would be not seen as such in America and most democratic countries in the world; consequently, yahoo and similar companies are forced to adapt to the different realities. Yahoo represents a segment of the information industry that has become critical in contemporary society owing to the increasing dependency of the internet as a means by which information is disseminated and spread. With the amount of power they wield, they needs must also exercise responsibility and should never compromise their integrity for the sake of political and business convenience. Google was also recently caught up in a conflict with the Chinese government on matters of censorship but instead of making under the table deals with the state, it opted to withdraw most of the search service that would result in controversy and stick to products and maps. Yahoo and any other firm that find itself in similar situations should also practice transparency and openness so as to avoid hurting the public in pursuit of profitability. Ultimately, the examination of the actions of yahoo in collaboration with the Chinese government as represented in the case study through the utilitarian, publicity, the principle of human dignity and infinite worth frameworks reveals a great deal of complacency. Yahoo evidently did not take to account these and many other ethical frameworks and neither did the firm adhere to any of the ethical and professional values of integrity, honesty and fidelity. Otherwise they would not have let their actions lead to the incarceration of a man who by the rule under which they were operating at the time could not have been considered to be guilty. At the end of the day, there is no doubt that in their aiding the communist government persecute Tao, yahoo betrayed the trust that he, and by extension all its users by compromising their moral responsibility for the sake of business convenience before the interests and safety of its users. Works Cited Allen, Stephen, and Patrick Capps. "Human Dignity and the Foundations of International Law." Leiden Journal of International Law 23.4 (2010): 960-6.  Chin, Josh. "Chinese Writer Shi Tao Released from Prison Early, Group Says; Jailing of Journalist on Charges of Leaking Secrets Led to Criticism of Yahoo from Congress." Wall Street Journal (Online)Sep 08 2013. ProQuest. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. Dann, Gary Elijah, and Neil Haddow. "Just Doing Business Or Doing just Business: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and the Business of Censoring Chinas Internet." Journal of Business Ethics 79.3 (2008): 219-34. ProQuest. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. Dickie, Mure. "FT.Com Site : China Dissident Attacks Yahoo Over Jailing." FT.com (2005): 1. ProQuest. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. Piazza, Jared, and Landy, Justin F. ""Lean Not on Your Own Understanding": Belief that Morality is Founded on Divine Authority and Non-Utilitarian Moral Judgments." Judgment and Decision Making 8.6 (2013): 639,n/a. ProQuest. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. Read More