Google has come under criticism in the U.S. for agreeing to censor its new Chinese service, Google.cn, as a condition laid down by the Chinese government. Now, Google is taking it in the neck in China too. According to this Reuters report, Chinese officials are mumbling about how Google doesn’t have a license to operate in China, purportedly in retaliation for Google’s policy of noting when Internet content has been censored.
While Google agreed to censorship, it also took a somewhat principled stand by implementing a system that affixes to censored results a statement that the results have in fact been censored. Government officials don’t like this middle-ground solution and are issuing veiled threats through the press that Google might not be free to operate in the country until it gets rid of the censorship notifications.
But the China Business Times, a business paper with a sometimes nationalist slant, blasted Google for even telling users that links are censored. “Does a business operating in China need to constantly tell customers that it’s abiding by the laws of the land?” it said, adding that Google had “incited” a debate about censorship. The paper likened Google to “an uninvited guest” telling a dinner host “the dishes don’t suit his taste, but he’s willing to eat them as a show of respect to the host.”
Cynthia Brumfield at 12:25 PM|Comments(1)
Cynthia, the verbal contortions you had to strech to paint Google in a favorable light are painful to see! ..."Google agreed to censorship, it also took a somewhat principled stand:... Is it even literally possible for a stand to be "SOMEWHAT PRINCIPLED"???
I know I'm scorching you for another stupid Google move, but unless we expect honestly and truly principled freedom from our capitalistic leaders at Google we'll continue to get this dictatorial garbage they parade as the "cost of doing business" in China.
Posted by: Bonequark at February 22, 2006 3:28 PM
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