Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang Grilled By Congress On China, Offers Apology

Nov 6, 2007 at 3:52pm ET by Barry Schwartz

News.com has live blogging of the “Yahoo! Inc.’s Provision of False Information” hearing by the US House Of Representatives today. Jerry Yang, Yahoo’s CEO, and Michael Callahan, Yahoo’s General Counsel, stood before congress to give answers on the information the company provided to China that lead to the jailing of journalist Shi Tao imprisonment.

Yang offered a personal apology to Tao’s family today, saying:

I want to take a moment to recognize the families of the dissidents sitting behind me. I want to say we are committed to doing what we can to secure their freedom. And I want to personally apologize for what they are going through.

Yang also said he would make sure his family is supported while the sole breadwinner is in jail.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee was very demanding of Yang and Callahan. Callahan has already offered an apology last week, but was required to testify today.

You can find full coverage of the hearing at News.com, plus there is more coverage from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

Postscript From Danny: Be sure to read the News.com write-up from Declan McCullagh. He highlights the hypocrisy of the committee being upset over China demanding information about “state secrets” yet turning a blind eye when the US Patriot Act has been used in a similar fashion.

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

See more articles by Barry Schwartz >

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