Skype under fire over China censorship claims

Chinese Tom Online, Skype’s partner in China, has been found to be monitoring text exchanges between Skype users in the country.

According to international reports, Canadian researchers have found that Chinese Tom Online have been keeping copies of text messages sent by users that include political terms ranging from ‘Falun Gong’ to ‘Taiwan independence’‚ and current event topics such as ‘earthquake’ and ‘milk powder’.

The reports assert that eBay, owner of the internet telephone and messaging platform, was unaware of the text archives. However, Skype president Josh Silverman conceded in a press release: “It is common knowledge that censorship does exist in China and that the Chinese government has been monitoring communications in and out of the country for many years.” He added that Tom was required to comply with the government’s regulations.

Separately, a spokesperson for Tom Group added: “As a Chinese company, we adhere to rules and regulations in China where we operate our businesses.”

The reports continued that Tom, which partnered with eBay in 2005 and holds the majority of Skype’s stake in China, monitored text exclusively and do not have archives of conversations conducted over Skype.

According to Tom Group’s annual report, Skype has 69 million users in China as of the beginning of 2008.

David Wolf, president and CEO of Wolf Group Asia, said the revelation will have little impact in China because censorship is a common practice in the country. However, the news will draw wider criticism from international observers who are unaccustomed to adhering to censorship rules, and this could temporarily mar the reputations of eBay and Skype.

“Are people upset in China? Yes, but they understand because this happens regularly,” he said. “This will be a bigger issue for Skype and eBay outside the country, and even for Tom which isn’t the primary brand people recognise.”

Lonnie Hodge, CEO of Chinese digital agency CultureFish Media, cited similar past incidents with Google and Yahoo and noted that those brands are still strong in the country.

"Most of us who are active users of Skype have been warning people for more than a year not to download the Chinese version of it,” Hodge said. “The real question is why eBay didn't know."