NEWS: Google Announces Censored Version For China

A new service announced by Google for China to come into force within the next few months will restrict search terms and websites that the Chinese Government has deemed unfavourable. Google has lost ground in China, which is the second largest Internet Market, to the Chinese search company Baidu Inc. The "Great Firewall" often blocks websites outside China and isolates Chinese Internet users from the rest of the world. Google will not offer Gmail, Googles web based email service, chat rooms and weblogs services that could be used for political unrest.



Tens of thousands of search terms will be restricted under the service. In many ways this does open up the Internet for Chinese users to experience and learn about the rest of the world but it will be ineresting to see just how far the censorship will go and what the fallout will be from China and Google offering this service.

Interesting... a search for
"constitution of the united states" turns up plenty of results. Unexpected.

I don't see there to be any way beyond the restriction of the computers themselves to prevent the Chinese civilian from finding information that excites "political unrest." Filters are great, but how often do they really stop porn from getting to our kids? Are they really going to stop the whole of the Internet from getting to China? I think not.

If I were google I would consult Microsoft on how to make the search code as buggy as hell with lots of holes and exploits. Comply on the surface, desent when implementing the proprietary code and if China asks for that code tell em to stuff it. I know it goes against the whole "Do no Evil" mantra, but this is one of the largest potential markets in the world we're talking about. I'd put my morals(on the surface) aside for a second if it meant I'd get access to that market.

Hopefully this is what they do but we'll never know as if they admit it then China will just try and block them from their country.

The availability of it in general might serve as a sort of chinese glasnost though. Google might be able to have more influence in pushing for "openness" than this native Baidu Inc.

I find this rediculous, and disgusting that Google would even consider helping those people do that to their citizens. I have lost ALL respect that I had with Google because of this.

Originally posted by apc
Interesting... a search for
"constitution of the united states" turns up plenty of results. Unexpected.

I don't think things like that will be blocked. It's mainly human rights, issues around Tibet etc.

Originally posted by JBurns
I find this rediculous, and disgusting that Google would even consider helping those people do that to their citizens. I have lost ALL respect that I had with Google because of this.

This is rather old news, I first reported this a while back (Not this story, but the fact that they were already compling with censorship).

Google is not the only one. Microsoft is censoring blogs and Yahoo may have had a hand in the arrest and jailing of a chinese dissident

Yeah try doing a search on "Human Rights Watch" and remeber that that non descript van parked out side you home later is not the Bejing Dominos

[edit on 1/25/06 by FredT]

Absolutely terrible...

I can't seem to make it deny any pages however, even when I enter very "descriptive" names relating to the Chinese Government...

While I certainly don't like the idea of censoring what information the Chineese (citizens) can recieve, I think this is more of one small step forwards than a step back. Would you rather they had a limited Google, or none at all?

My responce to this on another forum was heavily laden with hyperbole, compairing the internet not to a warehouse full of segregateable information, but rather to a swollen river that continues to rise and change course.

Jburns, see if you can find this site on it!

This is truly a sell out on the part of google and flies in the face of some of the tenets of its corporate philosophy:

4. Democracy on the web works.

Even though they are a private company, cow-towing to a government to censor its services is not democracy.

6. You can make money without doing evil.

Nowhere on the Google website do they define what "evil"is.

From Dictionary.com

1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.

One could argue that Communism is a kind of evil and that Google is evil for facilitating censorship.

8. The need for information crosses all borders.

Well, the need may be there; but Google isn't fulfilling that need if they censor

I'd like to point out also that the US Gov't requested Google to provide information about searches on pedophilia and child porn and Google denied them their request. Yet they're willing to roll over when the Chinese gov't request them to limit info? There's something very wrong here!!

I'm going to have to agree with a poster who came before me, better limited google than no google.

Inevitablly, something will slip under the radar anyway. You can't block everything to millions (billions?) of people in China.

And if China takes a hardline towards this, I think they need to rethink their priorites. Shouldn't they be more concerned with the rural riots that have rised 6% over the last years?

Issues like censorship and the rural riots are going to push people too far. Especially with younger generations growing up. Something will happen.

As far as if Google is right or wrong. Well, they might be censoring, but they're still doing a service in giving lots of people access to information. It's a sticky situation, and either way they go on it is going to get flac from someone. Instead of telling China to kiss their ass, they decided to give people access to searchs. Not a bad choice.

So, there's an open version available? where? i'm afraid we wouldn't notice the difference, would we?

Yet Google was applauded for not turning over search engine data to the big bad US government? The mind boggles.