Google’s Censorship in China
January 26th, 2006
Google’s recent decision to censor search results for www.google.cn in accordance with Chinese law is a interesting case study for corporate responsibility: the BBC has an article outlining the situation.
Regardless, the development of the institutionalization of ethics is concerning in its own right. When objectified to the degree that “responsibility” is a department, rather than a value, I see trouble. Not that Google is necessarily party to such an error, but I was very surprised at one response to the Google/China decision:
“It’s a tough call for a lot of businesses to make. A lot of times, businesses have to scale back on corporate responsibility,” said Rafael Gutierrez, an attorney specializing in Internet law at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. “It’s the right thing for Google to do if they’re looking out for shareholders.”The phrase “scale back on corporate responsibility” raised a red flag for me. I think Google has put a good deal of thought into their decision, and I hope it ends up being the right one.
Link via Yahoo News.
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January 26th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
This move has certainly caused a bit of an uproar here in the Silicon Valley and raised many eyebrows and red flags… However, it was only a week ago when Google declined to turn over search data to the US Government with regards to an effort to revive new anti-porn legislation (while MSN, Yahoo! and AOL all turned over user search records).
Information Week link
ABC News link
Given Google’s track record and their culture, I think we should have a little faith in the company for making good decisions. Just like how parents need to slowly let loose on the reins and trust their teenagers, weary consumers and critics might give ‘good’ companies a little credit and let them show that they can be good corporate citizens. But surely, the moment those teenagers slip up and land themselves in trouble, they’re grounded.
...I personally think Google should be given a little slack… Sure this move has the potential for huge financial gains and will mean gains for company and its shareholders… but that’s what companies try to do… make money. If they didn’t, they couldn’t exist and there goes capitalism.
In the end, they’re bringing some search to China… where the users there certainly know that their results are censored. So, it’s a baby step in the right direction, and who knows, once they Chinese have it, perhaps they’ll demand more and eventually win censor-free search.
January 26th, 2006 at 11:41 pm
I certainly laud Google’s position on search data. But “there goes capitalism” – well, I think we’re all learning a little about capitalism too, in areas as diverse as open source software, fair trade, and microfinance. So as we do broaden our horizons perhaps we should examine capitalism as a tool rather than an end.