Google and Chinese Net Censorship Update: That License Flap Is No Bureaucratic Snafu
The so-called “license problem” Internet Wall of Shame member Google is having with the Chinese goverment is actually the beginning of a good old-fashioned war of wills with totalitarians who, as long as money and access are the sole objects of the vendor, appear to hold all the cards (WaPo link is free for now):
A state-run newspaper reported Tuesday that Google Inc. is under investigation for operating without a proper license in China and quoted an unnamed government official as saying the Internet giant needs to cooperate further with the authorities in blocking “harmful information” from its search results.
The report, in the Beijing News, was published the same day that another state newspaper ran a harshly worded editorial about Google. The paper accused the firm of sneaking into China like an “uninvited guest” and then making a fuss about being required to follow Chinese law and cooperate in censoring search results such as pornography.
The government’s porn excuse is just a fig leaf, so to speak. The “do no evil” company is in the process of learning a lesson in the dangers of striking a deal with evil:
But it appears Chinese authorities are now pressuring Google to cut off access in China to its regular search engine, and to stop telling users of the new site every time a search is censored.
“Is it necessary for an enterprise that is operating within the borders of China to constantly tell your customers you are following domestic law?” said the editorial published Tuesday in the China Business Times, a financial daily.
So here’s the test. Will the government, which has now invested considerable political capital in its bullying, just let it go? Or will Google cave? If it’s the latter, the predictions of those who feared that the Chinese government would change their cooperating vendors more than it would change itself will begin to be realized.
RConversation also noticed this story this morning, and is a great source for the most current information on Chinese and other Internet censorship issues.
