Senator seeks information on tech firms in China

(AP) -- A top Senate Democrat is asking 30 leading technology, Internet and communications companies to provide detailed descriptions of their operations and human rights practices in China.

The companies include Apple Inc., Facebook, Twitter, AT&T Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc.

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois sent letters to the companies on Tuesday seeking information about their business in China and their plans for protecting human rights, free speech and privacy there.

Durbin's letter comes nearly three weeks after Google Inc. said it would stop censoring search results in China and threatened to pull out of the country altogether after uncovering a hacking attack emanating from China and attempts to snoop on dissidents.

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