Dan Gillmore thinks it may be, and points to an article that says the following:
The internet’s most popular search engine Google has been accused of supporting Chinese internet controls by omitting contentious news stories from search results in China….
Researchers at Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT), a US company that provides technology for circumventing internet restrictions in China, have discovered that the recently-launched Chinese version of Google News omits blocked news sources from its results….
Google admits to omitting some news sources within China but says this is meant to improve the quality of the service.
“In order to create the best possible news search experience for our users, we sometimes decide not to include some sites, for a variety of reasons,” says a statement issued by the company. “These sources were not included because their sites are inaccessible.”
Bill Xia, chief executive of DIT, however, accuses Google of reinforcing Chinese internet restrictions by leaving some sites off its list. “When people do a search they will get the wrong impression that the whole world is saying the same thing,” he told New Scientist.
DIT enables Chinese internet users to get around government restrictions by connecting to computers located outside of the country.
Some users recently reported that Google’s Chinese news search returned different results depending when they searched using a computer based outside of China. The claims were substantiated by researchers who connected to computers inside the country.
In the past, other search companies have also been accused of supporting Chinese internet controls. In 2002, for instance, Yahoo’s Chinese search engine was modified to provide only limited results for queries related to the banned religious group, Falun Gong.
And Xia notes that Google recently acquired a stake in a Chinese search company called Baidu.com.
Ben Edelman, of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, part of Harvard University in the US, says Google will face increasing pressure from the Chinese government to adhere to its restrictions as it extends its reach.
“As Google gains more interest in China and even comes to have financial interests in China, it’s hard to imagine Google won’t do so,” he told New Scientist.
Gillmor points readers to a conversation over at Slashdot — but I’m at work and will have to check it later on.
1
By Tom - Daai Tou Laam
I saw the Slashdot discussion last night and the New Scientist article is sorely lacking in detail. I was hoping for more technical thought at Slashdot, but I didn’t see it last night immediately. Looking at the one line given to Google’s response, there may technical reasons for this that weren’t sufficiently explained or conveyed properly by their PR staff. I’ll check the discussion again after I finish reading the article on the Governator signing silly legislation banning anonymous file sharing as payback to his paymasters.
September 22, 2004 @ 6:54 pm | Comment
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By Ellen Sander
In September 2002, before the CPC congress where Hu replaced Jiang as top dog, Google itself was blocked —completely— in China. It returned later in the year, if (!) memory serves, leading to speculations that to at least some extent, Google had agreed to some cooperation with China’s internet policies.
September 22, 2004 @ 7:14 pm | Comment
3
By Simon World
Asia by Blog
All the news that’s fit to post… Hong Kong, Taiwan and China With the peaceful rise of Hu Jintao, Richard has a good look on what it all means, although CDN contends Hu has sold his soul. At the same time some things haven’t changed (the article in q…
September 23, 2004 @ 12:53 am | Comment
4
By miss-information.net
Google cautionne la censure en Chine?
C’est ce que pense Dan Gillmore qui cite ce texte du New ScientistNew Scientist
September 23, 2004 @ 4:17 am | Comment
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By Simon World
Asia by Blog – Month in Review
This is cross-posted at Winds of Change. Asia by Blog is a twice weekly feature, posted on Mondays and Thursdays (the latest edition is here). You can be notified by email when it is updated, just drop me an email at simon-[at]-simonworld-[dot]-mu-[dot…
September 28, 2004 @ 12:55 am | Comment
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By Simon World
Asia by Blog – Month in Review
This is cross-posted at Winds of Change. Asia by Blog is a twice weekly feature, posted on Mondays and Thursdays (the latest edition is here). You can be notified by email when it is updated, just drop me an email at simon-[at]-simonworld-[dot]-mu-[dot…
September 28, 2004 @ 12:56 am | Comment
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By Winds of Change.NET
Simon’s E. Asia Overview & PRC News: Sep 28/04
It’s time to have a look at East Asia and what’s been making the news in Asian blogs over the past month. We cover China (in depth), as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore et. al).
September 28, 2004 @ 1:05 am | Comment
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By Winds of Change.NET
Simon’s E. Asia Overview & PRC News: Sep 28/04
It’s time to have a look at East Asia and what’s been making the news in Asian blogs over the past month. We cover China (in depth), as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore et. al).
September 28, 2004 @ 1:11 am | Comment
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By Simon World
Google and the Great Firewall
Extracted from today’s Daily Linklets:How Google is facing up to the China question and how it reconciles with its motto “don’t be evil”. But Fons is reporting that Google has a tool that might help beat the Great Firewall, called the Google Web Accele…
May 6, 2005 @ 2:13 am | Comment