The Internet provides a haven from government censorship.

But governments often dislike this, especially those in countries with no tradition of free speech. These governments want their societies to have the benefits of cyber access, however. They want Western free speech . . . without that pesky “free” part.

And they get help from American firms that should know better. Google has censored search terms like “democracy” and “Tiananmen Square” from the Chinese version of its search engine. Yahoo has turned over personal info on at least two Chinese dissidents, leading to their imprisonment.

The latest news is that Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN and other Internet big boys have signed a “code of conduct” prepared by the China Internet Society, a front for the Chinese Communist government. Signatories pledge to “safeguard state and public interests” of Chinese society. This includes looking for “bad” messages posted on the Net, and deleting them.

Of course, any criticism of the government can count as “bad.” Signers pledge to help “carry forward” the “moral code of socialist spiritual civilization.” Et cetera ad nauseam.

American firms could still do business in autocratic states without abetting autocrats, but only if they presented a united front.

Unlikely, I know. Here’s where we users of Google and Yahoo could actually do something. We could let these Big Boys of the Net know that we think it’s time to stand up like free people should.

Standing up to tyranny — and complicity in it — is an Internet tradition. Hey, it’s an American tradition.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.