The Michael Jackson jury may have ruled that the world is safe for the Gloved One, but the powers that be in China have put the screws in Microsoft to ensure that the world is not safe for phrases like “democracy,” “human rights” and “Taiwan independence.” The Redmond, WA company has agreed to expunge those phrases from its new MSN portal in China, or at least the sections where visitors can post comments or start their own blogs.
If Microsoft thought its changed HR policy toward gays was a sticky wicket, just watch this story reverberate in the blogosphere. The company’s corp. comm. department is no doubt thinking it through right now…as the first AP story just crossed the wire. One possible out? The company is not alone in its acquiesence.