Congress invites Google – Questions arise over allowing censorship in China
Google had 2 choices: Stick to the moral high ground and keep their services outside of China, or give the Chinese government what they want (the ability to control information) and gain access to one of the worlds fastest developing economies. On their corporate blog, Andrew McLaughlin rationalizes the decision. Google claims that while outside of China Google’s service level within China was poor. However, poor as it may have been, the people of China (when able to get through) would have gotten the results the rest of us would. Now they can’t see those results if they run afoul of a government censor. The problem with the argument is that while Google will be more accessible now, the information will not. By enabling censorship Google is actively assisting the Chinese government in the repression of their own people.