In 2002, Wang Xiaoning was illogically taken in custody by the Chinese Police. He was sentenced for 10 years in prison for writings; he published using his Yahoo! Email account.In 2004, a Chinese journalist, Shi Tao, was offended and arrested for emailing a report of the Chinese regime directives to a U.S.-based pro-democracy website.

In his email, he summarized a government order directing media associations in China to downplay the forthcoming centenary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao were penalized for practicing their freedom of speech as Yahoo! Inc.’s Chinese ancillary gave their personal information to the Chinese regime. By giving user’s personal information to the government, Yahoo! had violated many human rights.