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CORPORATE COMPLICITY IN INTERNET CENSORSHIP IN CHINA: WHO CARES FOR THE GLOBAL COMPACT OR THE GLOBAL ONLINE FREEDOM ACT?
George Washington International Law Review, The, 2007 by Deva, Surya
A close perusal of the letter indicates how it further dilutes what is expected from the Global Compact participants. First, the letter substitutes the concept of "sphere of influence"306 with the following: "We express our intent to support and advance those [ten] principles within our company and entities controlled by it."(TM)7 Second, the letter reiterates that the "Global Compact is not a grading or enforcement mechanism."308 Third, it contains the following wide caveat on behalf of the prospective participant: "[0]ur participation in the Global Compact does not limit our freedom as permitted by law to oppose public or private sector activities which we do not believe are in the interests of our company."309 Fourth, the letter puts on record that "the Global Compact may be implemented differently in different countries, in keeping with local laws and customs."310 The influence of this "magic" letter on inducing more U.S. corporations to join the Compact has yet to be seen.
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The more revealing finding of present research is that, as compared to U.S. business participants (corporations), other U.S. stakeholders (i.e., NGOs and academic institutions) have shown more willingness to embrace the Global Compact. As of September 4, 2006, there were 158 Compact participants from the United States.311 Of these, 101 (63.92 percent) were business participants and fifty-seven (36.08 percent) were other stakeholder participants. The low percentage of business participants from the U.S. is well below the global average at eighty-two percent.312 A survey of ten countries selected from all the continents also confirms that the relatively low U.S. business participation is more the exception than the rule (Chart 2). While U.S. businesses make-up about sixty-four percent of total national participants, business participants from other countries range from seventy-two percent (Australia) to almost ninety-six percent (Japan) . On the basis of these findings, it is safe to conclude that, as compared to non-U. S. corporations, the U.S. corporations are less keen on adopting the Global Compact. This conclusion is further supported by a recent survey conducted by Professor John Ruggie.313 Ruggie's report notes: "North-American firms are slightly less likely than Europeans to have adopted human rights policies or practices, even though proportionally they were somewhat more likely to have experienced a significant human rights issue."314
It is, however, possible to interpret the above data as establishing that "other stakeholders" in the United States are more willing to embrace the Compact as compared to their counterparts in other countries. Chart 3 shows a sector-wide distribution of Global Compact participants from the United States. Apart from companies (36.08 percent) and small or medium-sized enterprises (27.85 percent), NGOs (20.25 percent), academic institutions (7.59 percent), and business associations (6.33 percent) are other major U.S. participants.315 Although further research may be needed, it appears that other stakeholders' decisions to join the Global Compact are unaffected by the litigious nature of U.S. society or the absence of a "litigation-proof letter. This is most likely because these other U.S. stakeholders have nothing to fear. Only those participants not willing to adhere to and implement the Compact's principles, both in their letter and spirit, would likely face litigation. Thus, one can infer that other U.S. stakeholders seem to take the Compact far more seriously than U.S. business participants.
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