Google's decision to launch a censored version of its search engine
in China has reignited the debate about how businesses conduct
themselves in oppressive regimes.
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By Jane Wakefield
Technology reporter, BBC News website
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Google will face questions over its decision
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China - with its population of 1.3bn - is an incredibly
attractive marketplace for both off and online businesses but its
strict rules about what information citizens can access, present
companies setting up shop there with a moral dilemma.
In order to run a locally-based internet businesses,
companies must sign an agreement to censor themselves - something which
Google has resisted doing until now.
This has put it at a disadvantage compared to rivals
such as Yahoo - which has been complying with the Chinese censors for
the past three years.
Agreeing to block access to websites making reference to
material which the Chinese government regards as sensitive - such as
democratic reform and Taiwanese independence - will speed up the site -
currently slowed down by Chinese-imposed filters - and offer Google a
greater foothold in the burgeoning Chinese market.
No to e-mail
Search is set to explode in China
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Google has acknowledged that its decision to launch in
China will be seen as inconsistent with its mission to make information
universally accessible but believes it has little choice.
"We don't want to risk becoming irrelevant or useless
due to the way that our content is blocked or filtered currently,"
Google's senior policy adviser Andrew McLaughlin told the BBC Radio
Four's Today programme.
"We feel it is a step forward. Not a big step forward
but a step forward. We understand that many people will find the
decision either puzzling or objectionable," he said.
Google is hoping to avoid some of the criticism Yahoo
has attracted, particularly for the part it played in passing on e-mail
data to the authorities which resulted in a Chinese journalist being
jailed for ten years.
Google has said that it will not introduce e-mail or
blogging services in China until it can strike a balance between user
safety and local laws.
It also claims that it will inform users if the content
they access via its search engine has been censored, something that
other search firms based in China do not do.
Don't be evil
Critics believe gaining market share in China has been
Google's primary motivation for its change of heart and it is true that
the firm has been losing ground to a Beijing-based web search firm,
Baidu.com, in which Google owns a 3% share.
Internet search users in China are predicted to increase from about 100 million currently to 187 million in two years' time.
Rebecca Mackinnon, research fellow at the Berkman Center
on Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, thinks it is time the
company look again at its mission statement.
"They have taken a step away from their motto of 'don't
be evil'. What is interesting is that it now seems to be 'don't be any
more evil than necessary'" she told the Today programme.
The fact that Google has recently refused to hand over
data on what people are searching for to the US Department of Justice
has led critics to accuse it of operating double standards.
The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders
says Google is being hypocritical and described the launch of Google.cn
as "a black day for freedom of expression in China".
"Like its competitors, the company says it has no choice
and must obey Chinese laws, but this is a tired argument," said Julien
Pain, head of Reporters Without Borders' internet freedom desk.
"Freedom of expression isn't a minor principle that can
be pushed aside when dealing with a dictatorship. US firms continue to
justify themselves by saying their presence has a long-term benefit yet
the internet in China is becoming more and more isolated from the
outside world and freedom of expression there is shrinking," he said.
Of course as Chinese web users become more sophisticated they will increasingly find ways to avoid the censors.
Already bloggers use servers based outside China to
avoid monitoring and government filters are circumvented by changing
the spelling of banned words or using code.
But the fact that outside web firms are prepared to
remain in cahoots with the authorities is not helping the web
community, said Mr Pain.
He called on the big names that have a presence in China
- Microsoft, Yahoo and now Google - to get together and make a stand
for the freedoms they are so keen to protect in the west.
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Freedom of expression isn't a minor principle that can be pushed aside when dealing with a dictatorship
