Last week, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives approved legislation to make it illegal for U.S. Internet hosting companies to give users’ personal information to governments that restrict Internet access. The legislation is aimed at China, as well as companies like Google–which has reportedly censored search engine results in China–and Yahoo, which shared information with the Chinese government that led to the jailing of dissident Shi Tao. The case of Shi Tao seems to be breathing life into a debate that went nowhere last year. While Speaker Hastert was no fan of the Chinese government, he had no desire to sour U.S.-China relations; this legislation gained no traction under Republican rule. Speaker Pelosi, however, has been more direct and passionate in her criticisms of China and its human rights record. Furthermore, a Yahoo representative testified before Congress early in 2006 that his company had not shared information that led to Shi Tao’s arrest; it subsequently became clear that that testimony was false. Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has been called to testify next Tuesday, and the company has made it clear that Congress will get an apology:
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