The Washington Times today has an OpEd on "Why Tech is Right on China," by moi. It is similar to an article in TCS last week. The conclusion:

[The tech companies] should do what they do, which is tech. In the end, software, hardware and search engines will contribute to China's economic and political development. The working out of this story will be one of the great tales of human history, for tragedy or triumph.

But no one should even want the tech companies to try to decide which government policies are legitimate, or dictate what the Chinese leaders should do to promote development and democracy. Advocate and advise: Fine. Boycott: No.

Indeed, congressional demands that tech take on a supervisory function are a symptom of the West's weakening mental grasp of the basic concept that effective democracy requires that institutions and organizations, including both legislatures and corporations, maintain a strong sense of fitness and restraint as to their proper roles.

As a thought experiment, imagine yourself as an advisor to a tech company, telling it how to exercise a duty to protect free expression. Do you import all of U.S. First Amendment jurisprudence? If so, then you must refuse to comply with Chinese anti-porn efforts. (You may, however, help China suppress political speech of the type banned by our campaign finance laws.) What libel law applies -- American; European; British? Some other continent? And of course we would not object to suppression of "hate speech," currently defined on university campuses as anything that an official minority group (which includes women, who are actually a majority) objects to.

I imagine the tech companies lobbied hard for the creation of the Global Internet Freedom Task Force that the government announced yesterday, and rightly so. This issue is a Queen of Spades that tech wants to pass on as quickly as possible.

posted by James DeLong @ 8:23 AM | International

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