Corporate Accountability in Networked Asia
209
working together to promote transparent and accountable governance of digital networks, the result could be a win-win for citizens ’ rights as well as high-tech competitiveness. Multinational companies from India and South Korea might even gain a
competitive and reputational edge with global customers by joining the Global
Network Initiative — even ahead of many of their European and North American
competitors.
Studies of CSR practices in Asia show that even in democracies, managers and
investors prefer to avoid terms like “ human rights ” and “ social justice, ” which tend
to be culturally associated with Western-style moralism. Instead, proponents and
practitioners of CSR in Asia tend to emphasize concepts like “ sustainability, ” with a
strong emphasis on why environmental and labor standards contribute positively to
social stability as well as companies ’ long-term value.
88 Such arguments have proven
economically compelling even to corporations and regulators in authoritarian regimes
such as China. If civil society and businesses in Asia ’ s democracies can successfully
make the economic value case for upholding global standards for free expression and
privacy in the governance of digital networks, and if ICT companies from those
nations gain a competitive boost as a result, there may well be reason to be optimistic
that something similar may even happen in China someday.
Notes
1. Ben Doherty, “ Silence of the Dissenters: How South-east Asia Keeps Web Users in Line, ” The
Guardian, October 21, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/21/internet-web
-censorship-asia .
2. Reporters Without Borders, “ Web 2.0 Versus Control 2.0, ” March 18, 2010, http://en.rsf.org/web
-2-0-versus-control-2-0-18-03-2010,36697 .
3. Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski, “ Liberation vs. Control: The Future of Cyberspace, ”
Journal of Democracy 21, no. 4 (October 2010): 43 – 57.
4. “ New Responsibilities in the Networked Age, ” in Andy Wales, Matthew Gorman, and Dunstan
Hope, Big Business, Big Responsibilities: From Villains to Visionaries: How Companies Are Tackling the
World ’ s Greatest Challenges (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 87 – 102.
5. Jonathan Zittrain and John Palfrey, “ Reluctant Gatekeepers: Corporate Ethics on a Filtered
Internet, ” in Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering , ed. Ronald J. Deibert,
John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and Jonathan Zittrain (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008),
103 – 122.
6. Global Network Initiative, http://globalnetworkinitiative.org .
7. Colin M. Maclay, “ Protecting Privacy and Expression Online, ” in Access Controlled: The Shaping
of Power, Rights, and Rules in Cyberspace, ed. Ronald Deibert, John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and
Jonathan Zittrain (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010), 87 – 108.
209
working together to promote transparent and accountable governance of digital networks, the result could be a win-win for citizens ’ rights as well as high-tech competitiveness. Multinational companies from India and South Korea might even gain a
competitive and reputational edge with global customers by joining the Global
Network Initiative — even ahead of many of their European and North American
competitors.
Studies of CSR practices in Asia show that even in democracies, managers and
investors prefer to avoid terms like “ human rights ” and “ social justice, ” which tend
to be culturally associated with Western-style moralism. Instead, proponents and
practitioners of CSR in Asia tend to emphasize concepts like “ sustainability, ” with a
strong emphasis on why environmental and labor standards contribute positively to
social stability as well as companies ’ long-term value.
88 Such arguments have proven
economically compelling even to corporations and regulators in authoritarian regimes
such as China. If civil society and businesses in Asia ’ s democracies can successfully
make the economic value case for upholding global standards for free expression and
privacy in the governance of digital networks, and if ICT companies from those
nations gain a competitive boost as a result, there may well be reason to be optimistic
that something similar may even happen in China someday.
Notes
1. Ben Doherty, “ Silence of the Dissenters: How South-east Asia Keeps Web Users in Line, ” The
Guardian, October 21, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/21/internet-web
-censorship-asia .
2. Reporters Without Borders, “ Web 2.0 Versus Control 2.0, ” March 18, 2010, http://en.rsf.org/web
-2-0-versus-control-2-0-18-03-2010,36697 .
3. Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski, “ Liberation vs. Control: The Future of Cyberspace, ”
Journal of Democracy 21, no. 4 (October 2010): 43 – 57.
4. “ New Responsibilities in the Networked Age, ” in Andy Wales, Matthew Gorman, and Dunstan
Hope, Big Business, Big Responsibilities: From Villains to Visionaries: How Companies Are Tackling the
World ’ s Greatest Challenges (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 87 – 102.
5. Jonathan Zittrain and John Palfrey, “ Reluctant Gatekeepers: Corporate Ethics on a Filtered
Internet, ” in Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering , ed. Ronald J. Deibert,
John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and Jonathan Zittrain (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008),
103 – 122.
6. Global Network Initiative, http://globalnetworkinitiative.org .
7. Colin M. Maclay, “ Protecting Privacy and Expression Online, ” in Access Controlled: The Shaping
of Power, Rights, and Rules in Cyberspace, ed. Ronald Deibert, John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and
Jonathan Zittrain (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010), 87 – 108.