Four internet companies doing business in a booming China - Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems - are being pressed in Washington for more complete answers about their business practices in China and the implications for human rights, writes the New York Times. The House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations is today questioning company officials and witnesses critical of the companies' activities in China.

Subcommittee Chair Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) plans to introduce legislation, dubbed the Global Online Freedom Act, to restrict an internet company's ability to censor or filter basic political or religious terms - even if that puts the company at odds with local laws.

Separately, the State Department announced the formation of a new Global Internet Freedom Task Force yesterday, to examine foreign governments' efforts "to restrict access to political content and the impact of such censorship efforts on U.S. companies."