Google Makes Good On January Promise–Stops Censoring In China
By Galen Gentry
The AP reported that Google stopped censoring the Internet for China by shifting its search engine off the mainland today, March 22, 2010. Google is acting on its statement, made Jan. 12th, that it would no longer adhere to China’s requirement that it keep some Internet results out of its citizens’ view. Visitors to Google’s old service for China, Google.cn, are now being redirected to the Chinese-language service based in Hong Kong, where Google does not censor the search results; however, it cannot be accessed inside China, because the mainland government filters restrict the links that can be clicked by mainland audiences.
Google plans to keep its engineering and sales offices in China so it can keep a presence in the country and continue to sell ads for the Chinese-language version of its search engine in the U.S. Google is unlikely to sever all ties with China in the future. It would not make economic sense. China’s explosive growth has created a market that is hard to pass up.
Recent Comments