While Yahoo Inc. again seeks protection from the U.S. courts to avoid paying a fine for breaking the laws in France, it continues to show exactly the type of censorship behavior it wants to avoid having imposed on it. Does Yahoo think it is exempt from playing by the rules when it comes to bad behavior?
As we all know, Yahoo lost its case in the French courts and faces fines of up to $15 million for allowing Nazi memorabilia to be sold in a country where it is forbidden to sell or display such items. Yahoo then sought the protection of the U.S. courts, citing freedom of speech as the right that shields it from its illegal activity in France. But let us take a closer look at how Yahoo handles the free speech rights of its own users.
Section 6, subsection (a) of the Yahoo Terms of Service says: "You agree to not use the Service to: Upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable." So Yahoo reserves the right to censor anything it finds "offensive." Shame on you, Yahoo, for not living up to the same standard you impose on others.
I have been a Yahoo user since the days of ypager, more than 7 years now. I have occasionally done things that did not agree with section 6(a), and Yahoo has disabled an account or two of mine for those actions. I am also an avid protector of our right to free speech, a right I myself have been shot at to protect, and that is one reason I started a website documenting abusive behavior on Yahoo's servers. Given that Yahoo seeks the same protection in another country that it enjoys here, I think it is only fair that it be held to the same accountability it holds its users to. Censorship is wrong in this country; it is called freedom of speech, yet Yahoo reserves the right to be judge, jury and executioner of anyone who exercises that freedom of speech on its service.
Yahoo Inc. recently deactivated one of my accounts that I have had for years, because the Yahoo 360 page on it had a link to that website and the abusive people listed on the site complained about it. Is this not the same form of censorship that Yahoo seeks protection from? Yahoo deactivated the account, and then several hours later sent me an email that appeared to be a warning. Here is the email in its entirety, along with the response I sent to the only email address Yahoo makes available for such cases.
"Dear Yahoo! Account holder: By creating and using your Yahoo! Account, you agree to abide by Yahoo!'s Terms of Service (TOS). Pursuant to the TOS, Yahoo! reserves the right to terminate your account or otherwise prohibit use of your account in the event that, among other things, Yahoo! believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS. It has come to our attention that you may have violated the TOS. Please reread the TOS and cease any use of your account that may violate the TOS. If your use of your Yahoo! Account is brought to our attention again, and we believe that such use violates the TOS, then we may terminate your account without further notice. Please do not reply to this email. Any questions concerning Yahoo!'s Services should be submitted through the on-line form in the help area."
My response: How marvelous that Yahoo sent me an email AFTER the fact that it deleted my account, which was not in violation of your TOS in any way. You received a lot of complaints about my activities because I picked up where you refused to go and documented the bad behavior of your abusers on a website. Did you actually investigate? No, you just turned off my account, and several hours later sent this email. I will publish all of it, along with my response.
This is precisely why I started a campaign against Yahoo, getting others you have wrongfully censored to notify your sponsoring advertisers about your censorship of honest people and your refusal, and under-the-table support, to deal with all the profane and indecent chat bots and abusers on your service, although it is a simple matter of a script on your servers. Do you really think tens of thousands of chat bot accounts increase your user base without your advertisers noticing? For years I have used Yahoo services and documented violations of your TOS and your refusal to enforce it unless it affects your bottom line. By censoring me you have not silenced me. You have proven that your loyalties are not to honest users but to indecent chat bots and abusers.
We, those you have offended by your actions or lack of them, will continue to watch and monitor your activities. You cannot stop us. It is called freedom of speech. Your advertising partners are watching everything you do, and they will choose whether to spend their money with you or with one of the faster-growing, more popular services now available. Congratulations on your un-American censorship activities; no wonder the French government wants to censor you and the courts here will not give you the time of day. You deserve to be held accountable, since you refuse to follow your own rules.
Honestly, Yahoo, do you really think that by asking for protection from your fines in France, claiming freedom of speech and that you are an American company, your users are exempt from the same freedom of speech here in the USA?
It would be illegal for me to suggest that everyone who uses Yahoo send the company a complaint about its censorship, since that could be harassment under the law. However, it is not illegal in this country for me to voice my own opinion: all advertisers on Yahoo are supporting censorship in the worst way. We should all let the advertisers on Yahoo know.
The evidence above shows that Yahoo does censor its users, simply by using its own Terms of Service to act on or terminate the account of anyone who posts or makes available anything "objectionable." That could be just about everyone, since we could all object to something other users are doing. As I have documented many times over the years, Yahoo does not censor those whom others find offensive; it censors those whom Yahoo finds offensive, like my website, because it is a threat to its bottom line and tells the truth about Yahoo censorship.
Why do we continue to tolerate this behavior by a company that is now claiming the right to support the sale of Nazi memorabilia as well? Is there a pattern developing here? Buying anything from someone who advertises on Yahoo would be a show of support for censorship by corporate America. This behavior is wrong, even though anyone who uses the service gave up the right not to be censored when agreeing to the Terms of Service, and it violates the principles of freedom of speech that Yahoo now seeks protection from being imposed on it.
This great country was founded on the principle that all men have the right to choose their own religion, their own leaders and their own opinion without being punished for their choices. Why do we tolerate corporate America taking those rights away from us on a regular basis? Shame on you, Yahoo, and shame on your advertisers as well for supporting your censorship behavior.
I also wonder if there is some law that prohibits the censorship of a communications device by a corporate entity, since Yahoo touts free long distance calls as part of its service. If we accept this behavior from Yahoo, telephone companies may soon be censoring anyone who speaks out against their over-inflated prices for internet access.
For those who say my website censors its users: it does not. It promotes freedom of choice by internet users. Each member can choose to block the offensive people reported there. Membership is by democratic vote and no censorship takes place. I have reserved the right to deny any person membership, the same right afforded to any user of the forum.
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