IP Democracy: Google Censorship in China - A Step in the Right Direction?

Google is getting lambasted all over the Internet today for its decision to cave to authoritarian Chinese policies that dictate censorship of any information that could spark criticism of the government. Like most everybody, it seems, I initially reacted to this news with disgust at Google’s apparent willingness to trash principles for profits.

But, a post by Rebecca MacKinnon made me soften my antipathy for Google, an ironic reaction given that she finds Google’s willingness to cater to Chinese officials “evil.” But along the way she raises some very interesting points.

The first is that Google, unlike Yahoo or MSN, at least will let readers know when something has been censored out, a step in the right direction given that now, no Internet users in China can tell if there is information that is missing.

Google will at least be letting people know: “hey, there’s a lot more out there which people outside China can see, but your government won’t let me show it to you.” That is at least a positive step towards honesty and respect for the Chinese user’s intelligence. Will that lead to greater user trust and thus greater competitive advantage? If so, might that force other companies to be more honest with their users as well? Or is this all wishful dreaming?

And while at first blush it sounds “evil” that Google will not allow blogging or email, Google may actually being trying to avoid situations where it has to turn over bloggers to Chinese police.

Google says it has opted not to provide any services such as email or blogging services that would require hosting user data inside Chinese jurisdiction. This is a clear choice they have made to avoid having to turn users over to the Chinese police as Yahoo did or to censor bloggers as Microsoft does. Will they stick to this choice or will the lure of business draw them deeper into evilness?

As I mentioned at the outset, MacKinnon concludes that Google is probably in the wrong, even if they are less evil than other Internet companies doing business in China.

At the end of the day, this compromise puts Google a little lower on the evil scale than many other internet companies in China. But is this compromise something Google should be proud of? No. They have put a foot further into the mud. Now let’s see whether they get sucked in deeper or whether they end up holding their ground.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on January 25, 2006 9:29 PM to IP Democracy