Reluctant Gatekeepers: Corporate Ethics on a Filtered Internet

Abstract

Corporations are increasingly finding themselves caught in the crosshairs as they are asked by local authorities to carry out censorship and surveillance online. This chapter describes this growing, thorny problem and some possible means to resolve it. The most promising approach is neither local law nor a new international covenant, but rather a strong, enforceable code of conduct created by the corporations themselves, in concert with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academics, states, and other stakeholders.