The decision of Google to essentially withdraw from China is highly significant and a (better late than never) acknowledgement that Beijing treats its citizens with contempt: Google shut down its search service in the Chinese mainland last night after a two-month standoff with Beijing over online freedom and an alleged intrusion by hackers. But Chinese…
Showing all posts tagged Google
A rare example of a web firm saying ‘no’ to China
A positive sign in many ways and shows that not all Western firms will always bow to Beijing’s demands. Of course, the flip argument is that the departure of Google will leave one… less non-Chinese company in the country, a group that may sometimes challenge strict web censorship: Google will today set out plans to close…
Where the search for web freedom burns strongest
“Internet freedom” at Google Trends: Washington, Toronto, Beijing – cities with the most searches (via Evgeny Morozov).
Web liberation in the Islamic Republic needs more than lip service
Iranian dissidents clearly need more global support but surely backing from the US government is sending the completely wrong message? At a time when the Obama administration is pressing for harsher sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program, democracy advocates in Iran have been celebrating the recent decision by the United States to lift sanctions…
How many more online addicts will we soon find in Havana?
What is the effect of Washington’s recent decision to allow web companies such as Google and Yahoo to operate in closed societies, such as Cuba and Iran?
Blood, drama, chaos and defiance on the streets of Iran
The Islamic Republic is determined to crack down on any dissent on the 31st anniversary of the 1979 revolution: Iran’s telecommunications agency announced what it described as a permanent suspension of Google Inc.’s email services, saying instead that a national email service for Iranian citizens would soon be rolled out. It wasn’t clear late Wednesday…
How vulnerable is Gmail to Chinese meddling?
The role of the Chinese regime in hacking sensitive information just became even creepier: Reporters Without Borders is deeply disturbed and outraged by cyber-attacks on the Google E-mail accounts of several Beijing-based foreign journalists. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) sent its members a note today alerting them that at least two foreign news…
Google’s likely China departure causes waves of debate
A key reason behind Google’s announcement this week that it will probably leave China was allegedly due to human rights concerns: Google moved quickly to announce that it would stop censoring its Chinese …service after realising dissidents were at risk from attempts to use the company’s technology for political …surveillance, according to a source with…
What is Google now doing in China?
My following article appears today on ABC Unleashed/The Drum: Google has threatened to withdraw entirely from China in protest at the authoritarian regime’s oppressive online censorship and continuing attempts by Chinese hackers to gain sensitive information of local human rights workers. Perhaps most significantly, Google’s Chinse search engine, Google.cn, now allows once banned material to…
Should we fear China?
With news that Google is threatening to leave China over its oppressive censorship and hacking systems, this news (which is impossible to verify) is either scare-mongering on a massive scale or signs of a brave new world: A classified FBI report indicates that China has secretly developed an army of 180,000 cyberspies that “poses the…