Google and Censorship (Rick post 15)

Earlier this week, Google stopped censoring its search results in China. Much to the Chinese government's anger, Google instead began redirecting Chinese users to the uncensored Hong Kong version of Google.

I support Google's decision because I oppose censorship and I think it's ultimately self-destructive for a government to quash free speech and the free flow of information the way the Chinese government does.

However, I came across an interesting article today: Sergey Brin's Double-Standard: Google Happy To Keep Censoring Results For These Other Governments.

Google seems to have somewhat inconsistent policies regarding censorship. Granted, the Chinese government's policies are far more draconian than any of the other countries listed in the article (Although its policy toward Thailand is particularly dubious). Google's unofficial motto is "do no evil," but I'm starting to question whether Google's motives for leaving China are based entirely on this mantra.

As we previously learned during our class, Google has a relatively small portion of the Chinese Internet search market. The Chinese market, though huge, produces relatively little ad revenue and is dominated by Baidu. Google and the Chinese government also are at an impasse about the censorship issue, and it seems neither side was willing to back down. So Google probably isn't losing much in terms of present revenues by withdrawing from China. The bigger problem may be when the Chinese Internet market matures and expands, and Google is left out in the cold.

Additionally, the incident that prompted Google to reexamine its policy on China was a cyberattack trying to access the personal accounts of human rights activists. So given Google's difficult relationship with the Chinese government, its low Chinese market share and the threat of cyberattack, perhaps Google was really doing what was best for Google.