Google, Microsoft and Yahoo reached an agreement on set of rules of dealing with the question of doing business in countries where freedom of speech and human rights are restricted. Let’s remind that in the past these companies were criticized by watchdogs, NGOs and even US Congress for “enabling censorship in such countries“, we read in yesterdays WSJ.

According to this set of principles IT giants are going to protect personal information of their users around the world and implement goverment demanding in way that compromises privacy. They declared also to make deepened reasearch on fields of securizing personal information and freedom of speech before launching new ventures - as we can read at SearchEngineLand. This declaration is supposed to be open project and other companies can join and decalare to respect this rules too.

Honestly I dare to doubt that it will turn out efficient. It looks like CSR strategy movement. UN acting in the symbolic field of policy cannot deal with that, becuse of economic interests of its members. It’s rather doubtful that commercial organizations, set on making profit, will do it. But let’s do not judge nothing, the idea is decent and worthy. If it work it will be a new beggining of Web as grassroots medium - free information circulation with bypassing the censored servers. But of course it will not solve all problems.