In
a dramatic reversal of policy, Google said Jan. 12 it will stop
censoring searches on its Google.cn and reconsider the feasibility of
even doing business there after the search giant reported cyber attacks
from within China aimed at gaining access to the Gmail accounts of
human rights activists.
In
a blog posting by Google's chief legal officer David Drummond, Google
also said 20 other companies from a wide range of businesses had
suffered similar attacks. Google said it was in the process of
informing those companies of the attacks. Google also it said it had
informed the U.S. government of the attacks.
"We have been briefed by Google on these
allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look
to the Chinese government for an explanation," Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in a
statement.
Google added that the attacks had apparently failed with only two Gmail
accounts being accessed and the information gained limited in scope.
Google
has long raised the ire of human rights activists and lawmakers over
agreeing to do business with China. In 2006, Google agreed to censor
searches on Google.cn, a decision defended by Google at the time as a
"judgment that
Google.cn will make a meaningful - though imperfect - contribution to
the overall expansion of access to information in China."
The attacks, though, appear to have changed Google's thought process on 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," Drummond wrote. "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."
Google apparently hopes its new defiance of China's Internet policy will rally local Chinese users.
"We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these
attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and
human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because
this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about
freedom of speech," Drummond wrote. "In the last two decades, China's economic reform
programs and its citizens' entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds
of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation
is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world
today."
As
the news of Google's new policy stance spread across Washington Jan.
13, the initial responses were uniformly in support of Google.
The CCIA (Computer & Communications Industry
Association) said the controversy should
be an opportunity for the Chinese government to stop restricting search
information.
“It is increasingly apparent that censorship
is a barrier to trade, and that China cannot limit the free flow of information
and still comply with its international trade obligations," CCIA President & CEO Ed Black said in a statement. “The Chinese government has said it is gathering
more information before deciding how to proceed and we would urge that
they look at the issue holistically with government, economic and trade
officials involved in the decision.”
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), ranking member of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, called Google's actions overdue but nevertheless welcome.
“When Google went to China, it seemed to forget all about its
quirky corporate slogan, 'Don’t be evil,' but two cheers now
for deciding that making a fortune there may not be worth of cost of accepting
the routine oppression that passes for governance in China," Barton said in a statement. "The Chinese
plundering of Google’s database for the names and e-mail addresses of
human rights activists is hardly surprising. Google’s announcement that
it may abandon the China
market is appropriate, if belated, and news that it will no longer censor
searches on Google.cn marks a great leap forward for freedom."
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