Protests target Yahoo! snitching

Campaigners have projected a huge world map showing areas where internet speech is suppressed onto the Yahoo! France building in Paris to highlight the portal's snitching against cyber-dissidents in China.

The action yesterday by media rights organisation Reporters Without Borders fingered Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam as the 13 worst countries for lack of freedom online. It says these nations are "internet enemies", a list it publishes annually.

Egypt is a new entrant to the list for censoring bloggers. Libya was rtemoved from the list after a Reporters Without Borders delegation to the country found the internet was no longer censored there.

The public were invited to record a personal message for Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang calling shame on his firm's actions in China. Earlier this year the firm gave up details on two journalists who had highlighted plans to squash commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Details of the snitch are here. Reporters Without Borders said more than 200 have laid down some thoughts for Yang.

Yahoo! has also faced a barrage of criticism from Amnesty International over its acting as a state informant. Some months after its involvment was confirmed, Yahoo! issued a statement protesting it had "we had no information about the nature of the investigation". Full story here.

The Reporters Without Borders campaign site is here. The 24-hour action ends today. ®