Firms defend dealings with China
Microsoft and Cisco Systems have defended their dealings with countries with poor human rights' records.
The work of the firms was the centre of a debate about openness at the Internet Governance Forum in Athens.
Fred Tipson, senior counsel for Microsoft, denied that some big businesses were "colluding" with certain governments.
Art Reilly, senior director at Cisco Systems, said the firm enabled the flow of information, not restricted it.
As the only two representatives of major business sat on the panel, they were the focus of accusations from some delegates that the companies were not doing all they could to enable freedom of expression.
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