Google has lined up with the other major internet search
engines and is helping the Chinese government to censor the search
material available to internet users in China.
Google is to launch a dedicated Chinese version of its search
engine which will block material deemed by the Chinese government
to be against the national interest, including material linked to
pro-democracy supporters.
Google said the search engine would allow users to try and
search for whatever they liked in the home page, but the results
would comply with national laws covering what was legal to view in
the country.
As a result, where material is deemed not to comply with these
laws, users will be told in the search results that material has
been blocked.
Currently, Chinese Google users and others trying to access
western news websites find that their search session is either
slow, timed out, or blocked altogether.
Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL all said that they already censor their
search results for potentially the biggest internet market in the
world.
Google will also not be offering its Gmail or Blogger service to
Chinese users, as part of its compliance with Chinese laws.
Human rights group Reporters Without Borders has criticised
Google for its decision.
“By offering a version without ‘subversive’ content, Google is
making it easier for Chinese officials to filter the internet
themselves. A website not listed by search engines has little
chance of being found by users,” said Reporters Without
Borders.
“The new Google version means that even if a human rights
publication is not blocked by local firewalls, it has no chance of
being read in China.”
Ironically, Google has been praised by privacy advocates and
internet users for, so far, fighting the US government’s request
for random web search data, to be used for proposed new anti porn
laws. Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN and AOL have already complied with the
government request.