Yahoo has denied the request of Amnesty International USA, one of its shareholders, to place pressure on the Chinese government to release political dissidents who have been imprisoned because they obtained information through Yahoo’s Internet services, CNET News reports.

After the charity urged Yahoo to take action at a shareholder meeting on Thursday, the company said it believed activists and companies should work together to put pressure on the U.S. government to persuade China to release the prisoners.

Company officials said they did not believe that businesses on their own can bring about change.