After censoring its search results in China for four years, Google has taken a stand against repression.
The company’s decision to stop censoring search results is an essential step toward the goal of worldwide intellectual freedom. And it affirms Google’s basic business goal of making information accessible.
Unfortunately, the company’s refusal to accommodate government censorship has not been backed up by other large companies doing business in China. “Do you want to obey the laws of the country you are in, or not?” asked Bill Gates of Microsoft. “If not you may end up not doing business there.”
Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, continues to censor search results in China. And Google’s decision to re-route search queries through its Hong Kong servers has apparently not succeeded in evading China’s censorship.
Meanwhile, China’s telecommunications companies have said future deals with Google, including cell phone contracts involving Google’s Android software, are in jeopardy because of the company’s change of policy.
Chinese officials have forcefully expressed their “discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations.” A front page commentary in The People’s Daily warned that Google’s decision might be the first skirmish in an “Internet war.”
China closely controls what its 350 million Internet users can access. Service providers reportedly filter searches, block Web sites and monitor e-mail traffic. Sites like Radio Free Asia can only be accessed with difficulty and bloggers whose posts upset authorities can end up in jail.
Libby Liu, the president of Radio Free Asia, said the government has mounted a major effort to suppress information about Google’s decision. Writing for the Huffington Post, she commented: “The events also throw a spotlight on China’s draconian restrictions of the Internet and its use of the far-reaching medium to enforce its perpetual prohibition of free speech and the unfettered exchange of ideas.”
Google’s decision reflects its corporate mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” This goal does not suit everyone. The company has been criticized by privacy advocates for its practice of archiving search queries, and by copyright holders for its practice of scanning books and making them searchable.
It seems unthinkable that the Internet could be captured by those who would restrict the free exchange of ideas, but that seems to be China’s goal. Google’s efforts to protect the Internet as we know it should be supported by all who have a stake in such freedom.
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