Microsoft censors China's web
14 June 2005
Microsoft banned the words "democracy", "freedom" and "human rights" from its new China-based Internet portal in an apparent attempt to appease Beijing, Agence-France Presse reported. Other blocked words include "Taiwan independence" and "demonstration". MSN users who enter such words are prompted with a message reading: "This item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word for this item". Google and Yahoo have also cooperated with Beijing to self-censor web content and news stories on their Chinese servers.