» Google Strikes Censorship Compromise With Chinese GovernmentTelecommunications Industry News

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

Google Strikes Censorship Compromise With Chinese Government

1:29 am on January 26, 2006 | Category: Business, Regulation, Web Services

Google has recently come to an awkward compromise with the government of China, agreeing to filter out certain sensitive search terms for users in that country.

MSN and Yahoo had already complied with demands, but Google has been debating the issue for some time now. Ultimately, however, the company, whose corporate mission is to provide information to the world, has decided that opening Chinese users to a slightly limited version of its service is better than not servicing the Chinese market at all.

“I didn’t think I would come to this conclusion — but eventually I came to the conclusion that more information is better, even if it is not as full as we would like to see,” said Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, in a recent interview.

The other part of the compromise, however, is that Google wonâ€™t be offering its email or blogging services in China, as they do not want to be put in the position of helping the Chinese government spy on private communications.

All in all, this arrangement is far from perfect, but it is the best that Google can doâ€¦ for now. Unfortunately, there is little that any foreign corporation, even one as powerful as Google, can do to change the way that China oppresses its citizens.

Telecommunications Industry News