Ahead of Yahoo! AGM Amnesty International is calling on the company to do more for human rights in China.

Yahoo!'s CEO Jerry Yang and billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who controls 5 per cent of the company's stock, should have just received letters from Amnesty International's USA section.

Yahoo!'s AGM will be held in the US on 1 August - this Saturday Australian time.

Amnesty acknowledges the steps Yahoo! has begun to take in response to freedom of expression and privacy concerns, but several key issues remain unaddressed, we say in the letter to Jerry Yang.

And:

" ... Yahoo! in particular is in a position to push industry practices forward, and the current moment provides another opportunity for your company to establish a reputation for championing human rights rather than being known as a firm that plays a role in their repression …"

Read our letter to Jerry Yang

Calling for a vision

The letter to Carl Icahn asks about his vision for Yahoo!’s present and future commitment to human rights – given he has said he wants to reform the company's corporate board of directors, and sell a portion of it's business.

We write:

" … Yahoo!'s actions have been exposed by human rights defenders, the media, through litigation and Congressional inquiries, and Amnesty International has called on the company (along with other key Internet providers) to abide by the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights …"

Read our letter to Carl Icahn

We call on both men to show their commitment to human rights, by backing two shareholder proposals which will be put at the AGM; one on Internet censorship and the other on setting up board committee on human rights.

Colluding with authorities

China is believed to have the most extensive, technologically sophisticated and broad-reaching Internet filtering system in the world.

And the major overseas Internet companies operating there – Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google – have, in one way or another, facilitated or colluded with the Government's censorship practices.

Among other things, Yahoo! has given authorities confidential information about its users; Microsoft admitted shutting down a blog because of a Government request; and Google has launched a censored Chinese version of its international search engine.

Becoming a force for good

Similar shareholder proposals were put to Google's shareholders at their AGM in May. They didn't get enough votes, though company co-founder Sergey Brin abstained from voting on the censorship motion, saying he agreed with the spirit of it, but not the wording and implementation.

Effectively these Internet companies' actions are facilitating and sanctioning China's censorship regime rather than challenging it. We want them to become part of the problem and be a force for good.

Are these Internet companies doing enough? What should they do? What do you think?