Google awakes to the China reality
Quite frankly, it’s about time.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google in China might be approaching their tolerance threshold. Or are they developing a conscience? Either way, the search engine giant is seriously considering pulling the plug after (entirely predictably) “highly sophisticated and targeted attacks on our corporate infrastructure originating from China.” These espionage activities by Google’s Chinese hosts were aimed specifically at so-called ‘enemies of the state’ in China; anywhere else they’re considered decent citizens looking out for the rights of others. Here’s a bit more from the WSJ article:
Google Inc. said it may back out of China after an investigation found the company had been hit with major cyber attacks it believes originated from the country — a move that would amount to one of the highest-profile rebukes yet of China by a major U.S. firm.
Google said it believed the attackers were trying to access the Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists. It said at least 20 other large companies were also targeted and that it was in the process of notifying those companies and working with U.S. authorities.
“We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results” on its China Web site, Google.cn,” the company’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, said in the post.
“We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China,” Mr. Drummond wrote.
Even the public suggestion that it is considering such a move is likely to infuriate Chinese authorities, who couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. The government in the past has rejected accusations that China is responsible for cyber attacks against foreign entities.
Previous flashpoints
Google launched its Chinese-language search engine in 2006, agreeing to censor some of its results, a move that sparked sharp criticism from human-rights groups and Web-industry officials who are critical of any restrictions on the Internet.
In 2009 when Chinese officials reprimanded Google and accused it of having pornography on its sites, several Google services were temporarily inaccessible in China.
Google’s video-sharing site, YouTube, has also been inaccessible within China for the past number of months, and has been periodically banned in the past.
Last year, [Google] agreed to remove some foreign-language links on its China homepage to placate Chinese officials.
And from Google themselves (hat tip to Richard @ TPD, where a discussion is underway):
We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.”
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.
Notice a pattern? Google are, bit by bit, badgered to kowtow to this, apologise for that, or otherwise restrict their services. If they continue it will ultimately resemble the CCP’s very own search engine model; one that restricts freedom of information and allows Beijing free access to the accounts of foreign companies, NGOs, and rights activists.
Looks like this security breach could be the straw that breaks the back of Google’s questionable and unethical yielding to Beijing’s draconian censorship measures.
Let’s hope so. In which case, come June, I might not have to revisit this criticism.
Update
James Fallows well worth a read, as ever.
Update 2