I know most of this took place much earlier this year, but I love the topic. Many of you may remember last semester when Google and China were having serious cooperation issues. It was absolutely fascinating to watch while it unraveled. For those who know the story, skip the next paragraph. For those who don't, read on...
China was setting very strong censorship blocks against certain Google searches (i.e. Tiananman Square, and "Tank Man") and completely blocked YouTube, a Google subsidiary, and other Google services. This is totally against Google's culture, which has always been known for wanting to provide information universally. "While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission," was their response to the controversy. Google eventually did get fed up with what they viewed as unfair censorship. They re-routed the search engine through Hong Kong and for a limited time, the Chinese people were allowed to search for anything they wanted without fear of gov't censorship. Of course, the Chinese gov't quickly shut down Google's attempt, and for a while, Google was completely frozen out of China until about two months ago, when they were allowed back in.
My question to my classmates and colleagues is one about your personal view on the matter. Should Google continue to compromise their ideals and ethics in order to access the huge market that is the People's Republic of China? Or should they stick to their guns and refuse to cooperate with these censorship laws and regulations, thereby eliminating any profits from the country? Is it an invasion of privacy to monitor someone's searches constantly? And is it our business what China chooses to regulate?
I think Google should "stick to their guns" and not cooperate with China's restrictions. When you like of the term Google you think about the freedom to search the internet without filters. If Google lets China determine what and what not can show up on a search, it not only goes against their philosophy but now they would be contributing to to the Communisim and lack of freedom of speach the people of China live with.
ReplyDeleteBasically, Google can afford not to tap into the econinomical value of China so why should they sacrifice their morals/philosophy?
Kimberly Wyatt
This story really makes me realize how lucky I am to live in America! We so often take for granted out freedom and it is things like this that remind us just how lucky we really are.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I hope Google has the determination to stick to their beliefs and ideals. It is amazing to me that a modern successful government, the Peoples Republic of China, can still get away with covering up such important moments in history. Of course I understand that our government has its own skeletons in the closet, but I cannot imagine Washington politicians publicly blocking their citizens from learning about American history.
I am sure that Google has much to lose financially by abandoning their business in the Chinese market, but they also have a great deal to lose if they allow a communist government to alter their product. Google and Google alone should decide how people are able to conduct web searches, and what results those web searches produce. I feel that such a powerful company as Google should stand its ground and stick to their values rather than allow any government to regulate their product.
Stand Strong Google!