Congress is getting into the act now that Yahoo! has been exposed contributing to oppression and human rights violations…

“I don’t like any American company ratting out a citizen for speaking out against their government,” Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat and member of the House Human Rights Subcommittee, told Reuters on Thursday.

“This is the tip of the iceberg of a very oppressive regime that we have almost become accustomed to in America,” Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican and chairman of the House Human Rights Subcommittee, told Reuters.

The storm over Western media companies’ compliance with China’s policies comes before next week’s hearing by Smith’s committee where lawmakers from both parties are expected to grill representatives from Yahoo, Google Inc. , Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. .

“There are probably others (dissidents) that we need to find out about. We are going to make sure it doesn’t get swept under the rug,” Smith said.

And then Yahoo!, taking a page from the Democrat play book, is pleading ignorance…

Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said her company was unaware of the details of the latest case raised by Paris-based international rights group Reporters Without Borders. The group said Yahoo provided electronic records to Chinese authorities that led to the imprisonment of writer Li Zhi in 2003.

But Congress isn’t buying it…

Smith said the hearings set for Feb. 15 will push Yahoo to reveal what information it provided to the Chinese government, the number of people involved and details on how Yahoo interacts with what he describes as the “secret police.”

And for you Yahoo! users, be advised that…

Yahoo’s engagement includes a $1 billion investment last year to acquire a 40 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.com, which now runs the company’s China operations.

Alibaba has moved all of its 2,000 Yahoo China servers from the United States to China, Alibaba’s CEO said last year.

So Yahoo! no longer has control of those servers and the information contained therein.

In a twist of irony it seems the Bush administration has been in a battle over getting records from Google in an effort to stop child pornography. Yet these same companies willingly give information to oppressive governments to help those governments destroy those who would speak out about oppression.

There has to be a warning in there somewhere. If these companies are willing to side with child pornographers and against human rights what does that tell you about the future; your future, our future? Is tyranny just around the corner with the assistance of the techno grubbing, fawning sympathizers? Will they actively suppress what they disagree with, aiding in crushing those that might speak out? Will they offer themselves as tools of the propaganda pushers, promoting lies for the sake of higher profits?

Let the buyer beware.

Update: Lots more at Democracy Project (H/T Captain’s Quarters)