Google Censors China Search: A Dangerous Game
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The United States of America is engaged in a fight to spread freedom and democracy. Two notable examples of this are Iraq and Afghanistan, where over a hundred and fifty thousand American troops are deployed. However, this struggle has many more fronts. With Google as the next one, what impacts do we face?
A Dangerous Game
This is not a regional struggle, it's a global one. Billions of dollars of taxpayer money go into this effort, but are American business—who, undoubtedly, profit from America's political and economic structure—undermining this effort?
In January, Google followed Yahoo! and MSN into the Middle Kingdom, hoping to gain a piece of the nation's pie, which consists of around a hundred million Internet users. Google opened Chinese versions of its services, claiming that major service problems had previously made it nearly inaccessible to China's population.
However, the new services come with a catch: built-in censorship. Due to the tight grip of the Chinese government, Chinese users get results that are purged of content which threatens the Communist Party. This content includes material in support of freedom and democracy and material in opposition to the government, though the list is rather extensive. If one searches for information relating to Chinese human rights, one gets optimistic tales of an ever-improving respect for human rights. On the other hand, if one searches for information relating to American human rights, one gets shocking stories of abuse.
Google's compromise is being met with some strong words by human rights advocates and American Congressmen. Such people are now more concerned about American companies working with the Chinese government in issues such as censorship. This is not the first time American companies have worked with the Chinese government, and it likely will not be the last. For example, recall MSN blocking certain words in Chinese blogs, or recall Yahoo! playing a role in the apprehension of a Chinese reporter.
Google, of course, has defended its dealings with the Chinese government. It noted that “the level of service” it previously provided China with is not something that the company is “proud of.” However, it claims that it was faced with only two solutions to the matter. The first solution was to provide poor service to users, with the search engine failing to load around ten percent of the time. The second option was to set itself up inside of China and submit to government regulations. The company has decided on the latter solution, arguing that it is more consistent with Google's philosophy of providing “the greatest access to information to the greatest number of people”—a point of view whose underlying utilitarianism might be interpreted as contrasting with its refusal to turn over records to the United States government.
However, both sides of the debate must acknowledge there is much more to the matter than what can be read by skimming a news article, or even reading a more lengthy essay. The issue is very deep and covers more topics than the ethics of censorship. It is a matter that must be viewed on more than one front to judge its true impact on today's society.
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