DIGITAL WORLD

Shutterstock Image Censoring in China Communist Sparks Employee to Resign

An employee at Shutterstock, a supplier of stock footage, has resigned to protest the company's policy to censor images searches in China.
On Friday, web developer Stefan Hayden posted on Twitter he was leaving Shutterstock for sticking to its decision to block Chinese users from querying images on sensitive political topics, including the "Taiwan flag," and Hong Kong's "umbrella movement."
"Today is my last day at Shutterstock," he tweeted. "I've been here for nine years, but when an ethical dispute remains unaddressed and I have the privilege of being able to move on and I am proud to."
Since October, the New York-based Shutterstock has been blocking the political image searches to comply with China's strict rules on censorship. But last month, The Intercept reported that Shutterstock employees had circulated an internal petition calling on the company's leadership to reverse the policy.
"By complying (with China's censorship rules), we are enabling injustices, including the discrimination of the people of Hong Kong, the suppression of Chinese political dissent, and undermining the sovereignty of Taiwanese people," the petition reads.
Despite the petition, Shutterstock's CEO Jon Oringer defended the company's policy to block certain image searches in the country. According to The Intercept, Oringer indicated it was necessary for the company to compromise on the Chinese censorship demand in order to "provide maximum value" to all of Shutterstock's users, employees, shareholders and partners.
"Do we make the majority of our content available to China's 1.3 billion citizens or do we take away their ability to access it entirely?" he reportedly wrote to his employees. "We ultimately believe, consistent with our brand promise, it is more valuable for storytellers to have access to our collection to creatively and impactfully tell their stories."
On Friday, Hayden said he helped organize the petition at Shutterstock, which almost 20 percent of the employees signed. Nevertheless, the company refused to make any changes, which is causing other employees to consider leaving in protest, Hayden said.
"I wish I didn't feel like I had to leave, but I never want to work where I can't fully get behind the company. I wish my coworkers the best of luck in their struggle to change how the company thinks about censorship," Hayden said in another tweet.
His resignation comes as tech workers are increasingly become more vocal about protesting controversial policies at their employers. A year ago, at least a few staffers at Google resigned over the company's plan to create a censored search engine for the Chinese market. The tech giant later decided to scrap the project amid heightened scrutiny from US lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Apple has recieved flak for complying with China's rules on censorship. In October, it pulled an iOS mapping app that pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong were using on apparent pressure from the Chinese government.
In response to Hayden's resignation, Shutterstock told PCMag the company is committed to open dialogue with employees on important matters, including its policy on China. "We attract passionate, honest and courageous employees from all backgrounds and experiences and we welcome people with diverse opinions. We respect Mr. Hayden's decision to depart Shutterstock and wish him the best in his future endeavors," the company added.

Michael Kan