{"id":8922,"date":"2011-05-18T20:05:50","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T20:05:50","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-18T22:05:11","modified_gmt":"2011-05-18T22:05:11","slug":"Baidu-China-sued-in-U-S-for-Internet-censorship-","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=8922","title":{"rendered":"Baidu, China sued in U.S. for Internet censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baidu Inc. was sued yesterday by eight New York residents <\/strong>who accused China’s biggest search engine of conspiring with the country’s government to censor pro-democracy speech.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims violations of the U.S. Constitution<\/strong> and according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer is the first of its type.<\/p>\n

It was filed more than a year after Google declared it would no longer censor search results in China, and rerouted Internet users to its Hong Kong website.<\/p>\n

Baidu did not return a request for a comment.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Baidu acts as an “enforcer” of policies by the ruling Communist Party in censoring such pro-democracy content as references<\/strong> to the 1989 Tiananmen Square military crackdown.<\/p>\n

This censorship suppresses the writings and videos of the plaintiffs, who are pro-democracy activists, to the extent that they do not appear in search results<\/strong>, the complaint said.<\/p>\n

It also violates laws in the United States because the censorship affects searches here, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

“We allege a private company is acting as the arm and agent of a foreign state to suppress political speech, and permeate U.S. borders to violate the First Amendment,” Stephen Preziosi, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Preziosi said the alleged censorship also violates federal and New York civil rights laws<\/strong>, as well as New York’s human rights law, on the grounds that “an Internet search engine is a public accommodation, just like a hotel or restaurant.”<\/p>\n

The lawsuit seeks $16 million in damages, or $2 million per plaintiff<\/strong>, but does not seek changes to Baidu’s policies.<\/p>\n

“It would be futile to expect Baidu to change,” Preziosi said. The plaintiffs live in the borough of Queens in New York City and on Long Island.<\/p>\n

China’s Internet censorship practices are viewed as reflecting its belief that keeping a tight grip on information helps the government maintain control. There have been mounting concerns in China that open dissent on the Internet could contribute to destabilizing the country.<\/p>\n

Searches for terms deemed sensitive by Chinese censors are routinely blocked, and search engines such as Baidu voluntarily filter searches.<\/p>\n

China also blocks social networking sites Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Google’s YouTube<\/strong>, and President Hu Jintao has called for additional oversight and “mechanisms to category_ide online public opinion.<\/p>\n

Google effectively pulled out of China last spring by redirecting inquiries on its main Chinese-language search page to a website in Hong Kong, avoiding direct involvement in any censorship by the “Great Firewall of China.”<\/p>\n

Renren Inc.<\/strong>, which went public on May 4 and runs a social networking site deemed the Facebook of China, has warned that its business could be shut down if it failed to comply with prohibitions on content.<\/strong> That would include material that impaired China’s national dignity or was “socially destabilizing.”<\/p>\n

The case is Zhang et al v. Baidu.com Inc. et al<\/strong>, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-03388.<\/p>\n

Baidu is still a great investment! I have some ideas for Asiance in China!<\/strong>
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