Google vs. China

Frustrated by China's insistence on Internet censorship, and the hacking which has come in Google's voluntary compliance, Google moved on Monday to redirect Chinese users automatically from their google.com.cn site to their uncensored Hong Kong site, google.com.hk.

In doing so Google attempted to not officially violate Chinese laws while putting an end to censorship practices. As the New York Times reported yesterday, this seemed to angered Chinese officials, who saw Google's move as a violation of its promise to uphold Chinese censorship laws.

On the official blog of Google, David Drummond, Senior VP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer posted on the issue yesterday:

We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services.

Despite Drummond's insitence that this is “entirely legal,” he was correct that the Chinese government might move to retaliate. On Tuesday this is exactly what it has done; as the New York Times reported this morning, Chinese authorities blocked mainland users from accessing the Hong Kong site.

The legal and technical issues in this conflict still need to be worked out, and the outcome is uncertain. Despite Google's pledge to end censorship, turning its back on China represents turning its back on the largest growing Internet search market. Google also has other business interests in China, such as its research and development department.