Google, Yahoo and Microsoft – to promote a new code of conduct to promote online protection for human rights

Online free speech activists saluted an initiative from Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! to join a work group that drafts a conduct code to protect human rights online.

The 3 companies were criticized for working with oppressive governments such as the ones in China, Iran and Vietnam,  that censor websites and persecute or jail bloggers. Amnesty International exposed this problem on www.irrepressible.info, a campaign that already gathered over 60,000 supporters.

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! will hold discussions with many organizations, including Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and  Reporters Without Borders, scholars, investors and Vodafone.