Today, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) hosts its second annual Business & Human Rights Summit at its Sunnyvale campus, bringing together individuals from around the world to raise awareness about freedom of expression online and the enduring challenges to this fundamental right. The Summit includes experts from the business, academic, journalist, human rights, and advocacy communities-- each with a particular perspective, but united in a common desire to address the complex threats to free expression and user privacy.

"This year, the Summit will highlight some of the ways that access to the Internet and technology is creating a platform for engagement, social change, and human connection around the world," said Ebele Okobi-Harris, director of Yahoo!'s Business & Human Rights Program. "Yahoo! was founded on the belief that access to information can enrich people's lives, and we hope this Summit and our other initiatives will stimulate both greater awareness and action. Our panelists' stories and perspectives demonstrate the Internet's potential to inspire creativity and foster social change, and the importance of promoting access to a free and open exchange of ideas."

During the first panel, entitled "Governments, Technology, and Human Rights," panelists - including Sarah Labowitz of the U.S. Department of State and Christine Bader, advisor to the U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Business & Human Rights - will discuss various approaches to addressing free expression and privacy rights in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

Panelist Kum Hong Siew, general counsel for Yahoo! Southeast Asia and a former member of Singapore's parliament, notes, "We hope to raise awareness about the important role that governments play in protecting free expression and privacy in the ICT sector. Technology has allowed us to make tremendous progress in Singapore and throughout the world, and government, business, and non-governmental organizations must work together to ensure that this progress continues."

The panel entitled "Technological Solutions to Free Expression and Privacy Issues" will address restrictions on free expression and privacy. Panelists include Evgeny Morozov, contributing editor to Foreign Policy magazine; Andrew Lewman of the Tor Project; Kathleen Reen of Internews; and Alan Huang of UltraReach Internet.

Panelist David Gorodyansky, CEO and co-founder of AnchorFree, comments, "As the Internet has evolved into a global channel for free expression, it is critical that people are empowered to control their own data and privacy online. We created Hotspot Shield with these ideas in mind and over eight million users worldwide every month use our tool to access the Web securely and without boundaries. We've found that people really want to ensure their online privacy and security and avoid censorship, and our mission is to deliver that."

In a panel about the intersection of social media and social change, journalists, bloggers, social entrepreneurs, and filmmakers will hold a discussion about the role of media and technology as a platform for free expression and social change, and will share innovative methods for amplifying voices from around the world. Panelists include Abbas Gassem, founder and editor of InsideSomalia.org; Sameer Padania, manager of The Hub at Witness.org; Nadia Trinidad, Yahoo! Stanford Fellow and senior correspondent at ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation in Manila, Philippines; and Omid Memarian, Iranian journalist and blogger.

Panelist Elia Serra, co-founder and director of Maneno, a blogging and communication platform for bloggers in sub-Saharan Africa, says, "After working in the Congo for the U.N., I realized that traditional platforms don't work in places where connection speeds are incredibly slow and where languages can be a challenge. After returning, I worked with my partners to develop Maneno to bring the Internet and its power to citizen bloggers and journalists in Africa. Maneno creates a multi-theme, multi-author, multi-lingual system that can load quickly on low-bandwidth connections. In order to engage new bloggers and journalists, we need to work with them to create more flexible communication tools."

The Summit series is an outgrowth of Yahoo!'s leadership role in co-founding the Global Network Initiative (GNI), an organization of ICT companies, human rights organizations, academics, investors, and technology leaders dedicated to protecting and advancing freedom of expression and privacy in the information and communication technology industry. During the Summit, one of the panels will feature GNI participants, who will discuss domain theft, account suspensions, and other emerging threats to privacy and free expression in the ICT sector, as well as solutions created by the GNI's collaborative framework.

"Information and technology can transform lives, communities, and even political systems," concludes Okobi-Harris. "Expanding access to information and technology brings their power to more people, but it can also present complex challenges. Yahoo! knows that we, like other companies, have important obligations to the communities in which we operate. Focused conversations like today's Summit help us live up to those obligations. We believe in the Internet's transformative power, and we are deeply committed to supporting freedom and encouraging expression around the world."

Promoting Free Expression at Yahoo!

In addition to Yahoo!'s co-founding role in the GNI, Yahoo! has continued its own efforts to support user privacy and free expression by:

• Establishing the Yahoo! Business & Human Rights Program, which brings together an international, cross-functional core team of professionals - including those in legal, security, government affairs, public affairs, product development, and emerging markets, among others - to integrate human rights into its business decisions.


• Developing and instituting a human rights impact assessment process, which includes engaging with external stakeholders and designing risk-mitigation strategies.


• Working with noted human rights activist Harry Wu to establish a human rights fund to provide humanitarian and legal support for political dissidents who have been imprisoned for expressing their views online, as well as support for their families.


• Establishing international fellowships at Stanford University and Georgetown University to support scholarship about free expression in press-restrictive countries and about the intersection of human rights and communication technology.

For more information on Yahoo!'s efforts, please visit: humanrights.yahoo.com.

About Yahoo!
Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most visited Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

Yahoo! and Yodel Anecdotal are the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Yahoo!

Yahoo!

Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most visited Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.net or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

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