14 January 2010

Google gets a conscience?

It appears that Google might finally be reconsidering its support of the Chinese government's censorship of the Internet. The last straw was apparently a cyber-attack on the Gmail accounts of some human rights activists. The attack originated in China.

So now Google is saying that it is "no longer willing to continue censoring [its search] results" on its Chinese service.

While I applaud Google for taking this step, it doesn't forgive the fact that Google had been censoring its search results in China for years. (Revenue trumps rights, you see.) So I have to remain suspicious that Google's newfound appreciation for human rights might be more about retaliation for the Chinese cyber-attack.

I hope I am wrong.

>> Read more about Google in China -- with a focus on the human rights implications -- from Amnesty International USA.

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