Cisco statement regarding petition calling on tech firms not to respond to Pakistan Govt. tender for internet filtering, blocking system
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Cisco to respond to the following petition by the NGO Bolo Bhi:
Petition: “Censorship is Big Business – It Should Not Be”, Sana Saleem of Bolo Bhi (Pakistan), Feb 2012
Further background on this issue is here:
-“Civil Society Demand Transparency From IT Ministry on Proposal for URL filtering and Blocking”, Bolo Bhi, Feb 22
-And subsequent update: “Civil Society Against Blanket Ban of The Internet in Pakistan: Stop the Firewall,” Bolo Bhi
We also invited the other companies named in the petition to respond. Their responses and non-responses are accessible here.
Cisco response:
6 Mar 2012
“Our products, which are aimed at expanding communications opportunities, are generally not designed to implement the requirements of this RFP and we will not bid on this project nor provide any implementation services. In particular, we do not believe that a Cisco-centric implementation would even be possible, given the nature of our products. In this connection, we would like to bring your attention to our latest CSR report where we outline our support of and approach to human rights.
Specifically, Cisco is strongly committed to a standards based global Internet which maximizes the opportunities for freedom of expression. Cisco sells the same equipment worldwide. Cisco does not customize, or develop specialized or unique filtering capabilities in order to enable different regimes to block access to information. Cisco has never customized its equipment to help any government censor content, track Internet use by individuals or intercept Internet communications. Our sales activities are in strict compliance with US export rules and regulations, which are informed and guided by human rights principles.
We will continue to engage throughout the year with a number of stakeholders on human rights, including non-governmental organizations and industry peers, to understand emerging issues and share best practices. We aim to respond to questions through investor dialogue, blog updates, our CSR Report, and other forms of communication.”