I was disappointed with Google’s previous decision to censor search results in China when they launched Google.cn. Helping the Chinese government suppress free speech clearly violates their motto, “don’t be evil,” in my opinion. So I applaud their decision to “reconsider their approach:”
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
How much of this was a business decision vs. a moral stand, I don’t know. China is such a massive market that I think guilt finally set in a bit, so I’m leaning toward the latter. If they said their initial decision was to get a foot in the door so free speech could eventually sneak in, and they couldn’t publicly say that at the time, I could buy that.
Reconsidering China
I was disappointed with Google’s previous decision to censor search results in China when they launched Google.cn. Helping the Chinese government suppress free speech clearly violates their motto, “don’t be evil,” in my opinion. So I applaud their decision to “reconsider their approach:”
How much of this was a business decision vs. a moral stand, I don’t know. China is such a massive market that I think guilt finally set in a bit, so I’m leaning toward the latter. If they said their initial decision was to get a foot in the door so free speech could eventually sneak in, and they couldn’t publicly say that at the time, I could buy that.