W*****B
发帖数: 4796 | 1 这个叫小强的UC伯克利网络专家说
“Not only can’t you speak freely inside of China, but you can’t even
speak freely outside of China—and that’s really bad,” said Xiao Qiang, a
Chinese internet expert at the University of California at Berkeley.
Business
Marriott Employee Roy Jones Hit ‘Like.’ Then China Got Mad
The severity of the penalty—termination, not reprimand—highlights the
unforgiving consequences for companies that offend China
BEIJING—Roy Jones, 49, never thought a $14-an-hour job running social-media
accounts for Marriott International Inc. would require him to know global
politics.
That was before he liked a post on Twitter Inc. from a Tibetan separatist
group applauding Marriott for listing Tibet as a country, rather than part
of China, in an online survey.
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Marriott says listing Tibet as a country was a mistake, and Mr. Jones has
said the same of liking the post. Mr. Jones paid for his error with his
livelihood: Marriott fired him.
“I was completely unaware of what was going on,” Mr. Jones said by phone
from Omaha, Neb., where he worked at Marriott’s customer-engagement center.
“We were never trained in any of the social graces when it came to dealing
with China.”
Marriott declined to comment on Mr. Jones’s case. The hospitality company
issued a statement saying it made its own decisions on the China-Tibet
incident in line with internal policies.
Craig Smith, head of Asia-Pacific for Marriott, said in a separate statement
, “We made a few mistakes in China earlier this year that suggested some
associates did not understand or take seriously enough the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of China. Those incidents were mistakes and in no way
representative of our views as a company.”
“Not only can’t you speak freely inside of China, but you can’t even
speak freely outside of China—and that’s really bad,” said Xiao Qiang, a
Chinese internet expert at the University of California at Berkeley.
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Marriott was within its legal rights to fire Mr. Jones, legal experts say.
But some say the severity of the penalty—termination, rather than a
reprimand or suspension—highlights the increasingly unforgiving environment
for those who offend Chinese sensibilities.
“A more typical scenario is that Marriott accepts the blame and doesn’t
just ax the employee,” said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High-Tech Law
Institute at Santa Clara University in California. “If this were his first
strike, the employee effectively is a sacrifice to try to get Marriott back
in the good graces of China.”
This year alone, at least a dozen Western brands and companies, including
Marriott, Delta Air Lines Inc., the Zara apparel chain and Daimler AG’s
Mercedes-Benz unit, have drawn Beijing’s fire for similar mistakes.
In at least two of the cases, including Mr. Jones’s, the posts couldn’t be
seen in China without special software to bypass its internet restrictions.
Mr. Jones liked the post on Twitter, which is blocked in China.
Mercedes posted a quotation from the Dalai Lama, who supports Tibetan
independence, on Instagram, which also is blocked in China.
James Zimmerman, managing partner at law firm Sheppard Mullin Richter &
Hampton LLP in Beijing and former chairman of the American Chamber of
Commerce in China, said the recent incidents reflect Chinese regulators’
stepped-up monitoring of internet content.
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Under a cybersecurity law that went into effect last year, any person or
organization is banned from posting content that “endangers national
security, national honor and interests” or “incites subversion of national
sovereignty” in China.
Mr. Zimmerman said his firm has seen an uptick on the number of companies
being called out for slight infractions involving online content. “What
companies are up against is what we understand to be a legion of young,
talented online technicians that scour the internet for compliance issues.”
Online ads and promotional content in China have come under heightened
scrutiny following tougher rules imposed in 2015, including a ban on content
“damaging the dignity or interest of the state.” A National Internet
Advertising Monitoring Center has found at least 230,000 illegal
advertisements since it opened last fall, Chinese regulators say.
China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce didn’t respond to a
request for comment.
Chinese authorities cited advertising violations in several of the recent
cases including Marriott’s. Marriott emailed a survey to rewards-program
members asking them to specify their home country. The options included
Tibet, Macau and Hong Kong—all part of China—and Taiwan, which is claimed
by China but has its own government. The survey was prepared by a longtime
Canadian vendor.
Chinese social media began lighting up with outrage over Marriott’s survey
on Jan. 9. The next day, Mr. Jones was on the night shift handling the
Marriott Rewards Twitter account, a job that required him to engage with the
public on Twitter.
Mr. Jones said his team noticed calls on Twitter to boycott Marriott but
hadn’t been briefed on what was happening.
That night, a tweet from a Tibetan separatist group praising Marriott for
listing Tibet as a country in its survey was liked by Marriott’s official
Rewards account.
Mr. Jones said he typically reviewed up to 300 tweets a shift and doesn’t
recall liking that one, although he concedes he probably did.
On Jan. 11, the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration said it questioned
Marriott representatives over the matter and ordered the company to
publicly apologize and “seriously deal with the people responsible.”
Marriott was also forced to suspend online booking services for one week in
Greater China, its largest market outside North America with nearly 300
hotels. Following the episode, Marriott said it terminated its contract with
the Canadian vendor.
Mr. Jones said he was fired after a Marriott human-resources director
interviewed him about the incident.
“This job was all I had,” Mr. Jones said. “I’m at the age now where I
don’t have many opportunities.”
Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.
Write to Wayne Ma at [email protected] | b********n
发帖数: 38600 | 2 小强没上过买买提
a
media
【在 W*****B 的大作中提到】
: 这个叫小强的UC伯克利网络专家说
: “Not only can’t you speak freely inside of China, but you can’t even
: speak freely outside of China—and that’s really bad,” said Xiao Qiang, a
: Chinese internet expert at the University of California at Berkeley.
: Business
: Marriott Employee Roy Jones Hit ‘Like.’ Then China Got Mad
: The severity of the penalty—termination, not reprimand—highlights the
: unforgiving consequences for companies that offend China
: BEIJING—Roy Jones, 49, never thought a $14-an-hour job running social-media
: accounts for Marriott International Inc. would require him to know global
| x******g
发帖数: 33885 | 3 邓产党现在是大土豪，没有私人公司敢得罪，除非你不想赚钱。 | W*****B
发帖数: 4796 | 4 原来是他
：小强没上过买买提
：来到这世上，我就没打算活着回去！
：
【在 b********n 的大作中提到】
: 小强没上过买买提
:
: a
: media
| F**o
发帖数: 871 | | d******d
发帖数: 6 | | m******o
发帖数: 7 | 7 什么驴唇不对马嘴的文章。你代表美华了? 问问多少支持藏独的?
: 原来是他
: ：小强没上过买买提
: ：来到这世上，我就没打算活着回去！
: ：
【在 W*****B 的大作中提到】
: 原来是他
:
: ：小强没上过买买提
: ：来到这世上，我就没打算活着回去！
: ：
| T*******e
发帖数: 249 | | i********r
发帖数: 110 | 9 你连屌毛都长不出来！
[在 Testimone () 的大作中提到：]
:一个屌毛藏独好意思代表美华？ | T****y
发帖数: 141 | |
|
