Google and Yahoo received shareholder resolutions from a group of...

authoritarian governments while protecting human rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of expression,” N.Y.C. Comptroller William Thompson said on behalf of the city’s retirement, police and fire pension funds. They hold shares currently valued at $386 million in the 2 companies, more than 2/3 of that value in Google. The resolutions cite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and say U.S. tech companies, whose provision of “full and uncensored information through the Internet” is a “major export,” must comply with that U.N. document. Political censorship online “degrades the quality of that service and ultimately threatens the integrity and viability of the industry itself,” the resolutions said. Govts. cited as authoritarian include Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, but the resolutions don’t say whether Google and Yahoo do business with those listed. The resolutions say shareholders want the companies to develop policies with these “minimum standards": (1) No hosting of data in “Internet restricting” countries that can identify users. (2) No “proactive” censorship. (3) Using “all legal means to resist demands for censorship,” and compliance with demands only if made through “legally binding procedures.” (4) “Clearly” telling users when the company has agreed to govt. demands to filter or censor sought content. (5) Telling users about the company’s data retention and 3rd- party sharing practices. (6) Documenting all compliance with govt. demands and making that information publicly available. Reporters Without Borders, which helped draft an earlier resolution with investment firms (WID Nov 8/05 p2), praised the pensions funds for using their “financial and symbolic weight” to press Google and Yahoo.