The World Organization for Human Rights has filed a lawsuit against Yahoo for its assistance in jailing a Chinese reporter. In 2005, reporter Shi Tao was jailed for emailing information about Chinese media restrictions. Yahoo Hong Kong and Yahoo China have been accused of providing the information that resulted in a 10-year prison sentence for Tao.

The company acknowledges turning over information regarding Tao but defends the action. If the request for information had been denied, the employees would have been faced with civil and criminal sanctions for ignoring Chinese law.

The imprisoned reporter's mother has declared that she will be joining the lawsuit against Yahoo. In response to the accusation, Yahoo has released a statement condemning the restrictive laws of China. While the statement does not specifically mention Tao, it does defend the company against the accusation of supporting censorship laws that Yahoo decries for restricting free political speech.