Bloggers and human rights groups are calling for a boycott of Yahoo after the United States internet giant supplied information to the Chinese central government that led to a 10-year prison sentence for mainland journalist Shi Tao.
Privacy International said a boycott would send a clear message to Yahoo, while Reporters Without Borders said it would ask institutional shareholders to raise the issue of Yahoo's behaviour with the company's management.
Several posters to internet forums and blog sites criticised Yahoo for its actions and promised to quit using the company's services.
'I do not intend to click on Yahoo ever again, and I'm urging everyone I know to do the same,' one internet poster said.
The controversy surrounding Yahoo's involvement in the case highlights the risks foreign internet companies take on as they pursue the lucrative mainland market: complying with the government's strict demands on regulation of the internet could end up damaging a company's reputation back home.
This is not the first time a foreign internet company has come under fire for its actions in China. Critics have blasted Microsoft for censoring words such as 'freedom' and 'democracy' in its blogging service MSN Spaces, while Google has been accused of removing sensitive pages from its search index.
