At the forthcoming Annual General Meetings of Google (10 May 2007) and Yahoo! (12 June 2007), shareholders will vote on a resolution submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of New York City requiring these companies to institute policies to help protect freedom of access to Internet in countries controlled by authoritarian governments.
These resolutions refer in particular to the 13 countries listed as «enemies of the Internet» by Reporters Without Borders. Moreover, they are a reminder to Google and Yahoo! that they are bound to comply with the principles set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in particular Article 19 regarding freedom of expression.
These resolutions are a follow-up to the joint investor statement issued in November 2005, of which Ethos is a signatory. The statement reiterated investors’ attachment to freedom of expression on the Web and voiced their concerns about the dealings of certain corporations in countries with repressive regimes (see Ethos News dated 8.11.2005).
Ethos urges investors to widely support these resolutions. As a comparison, in November 2006, a similar initiative required Cisco Systems to report on its human right policy. 29% of votes cast supported this resolution, being an important signal to the company.
