Yahoo CEO: operating overseas a grey area
Yahoo’s CEO says that the company has had to strike a difficult balance when operating in foreign markets.
Speaking at Georgetown University, Jerry Yang, himself a Taiwanese immigrant, said legal “grey areas” complicated the practice of doing business overseas.
“We operate within these environments to the extent that the law has any clarity,” Yang told his audience, adding “We’re hitting more grey areas than ever before. I don’t think it’s an easy question,”
Yahoo recently came in for heavy criticism both at home and abroad for its part in assisting the Chinese government identify journalist Shi Tao, later sentenced to 10 years in jail for releasing Communist party documents to a pro-Democracy site.
Although search providers like Google and Yahoo (who hold a 40 percent stake in Chinese search firm Alibaba) are keen to expand their presence in Communist China, they recognise the necessity to play by local rules; most notably cooperating in the censorship of sensitive material.
“As we operate around the world we don’t have a heavy handed American view,” said Yang.
During his talk at the university, Yang highlighted humanitarian iniatives the company has taken since their part in the imprisonment of Shi Tao, including the establishment of a human rights fund for those affected by government censorship and raising money for the American Red Cross.
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