Google announced Monday that it will stop censoring Web content on its Chinese site after the Gmail accounts of human rights activists were hacked, and the Editorial Board thinks it’s about time.
While they didn’t come right out and say it, a Google blog post hints that the attack came from within China’s government.
In 2006, with the development of Google.cn, Google agreed to censor content the Chinese government deemed objectionable — a surprising step that threatened the freedom of Chinese citizens.
While the Editorial Board feels that Google made a mistake in ever agreeing to censor the search results on its page, we acknowledge that the company is making the right decision now.
In its blog post, Google also notes that cutting censorship might not be the only repercussion of the snafu — Google may rethink business operations with China altogether, which we think would be both the right decision and a truly ballsy move.
According to Forbes.com, China passed the U.S. in Internet users in 2006 — just around the time Google made its deal with China. We realize how much revenue China brings to Google, and we respect the company for putting people first — above money.
We only wish they did it three years ago.
