The issue of who gets what amount of blame for the censorship issue is a complex one. Perhaps Google is justified in its actions, or perhaps it is not. Perhaps Google really is trying to combat censorship by attempting to provide greater access to information, or perhaps it is trying to maximize its profits in spite of national security warnings. The same goes for both Yahoo! and MSN. This article does not intend to answer every question on the matter. Rather, the reader must draw his or her own conclusions about this complex issue.
One thing, however, is certain. Even though news articles about Chinese censorship may be read one day and then forgotten the next, Chinese censorship is no trivial matter. The effects of it may not be seen by citizens of the United States or the Western world, but they do exist. When the views of a culture are perverted by a self-centered government so that the culture turns against the United States and its allies, then a big problem exists. This is a dangerous game. Will things get better because of a potential greater access to information? One cannot be certain at this moment in time. Only time will tell.
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