Google and the Chinese government have been trading blows the past few days after Google finally decided to stop censoring its search engine in mainland China.
Instead, the site Google.cn began redirecting users to the Hong Kong server, which is not censored due to the “one country, two systems” concept.
In retaliation, the Chinese government has disabled searches that were found offensive and blocked links in order to restrict what can be seen from mainland computers.
Right now, things seem to be pretty much where they started unless they’re looked at more deeply.
We are disappointed that the outcome of this has people shrugging and saying, “So what? China’s still censored and censoring. Nothing has changed.”
But what must be recognized is Google’s effort. For months, there has been speculation on whether they would leave China after almost four years of censoring, and they have managed to make a decision that is both strategically and morally right for them.
Not altogether leaving China allows them to keep a “technological toehold,” and refusing to censor material allows them to do what they feel is right. Censorship still exists, and our focus is not China’s reaction. Instead, we can see Google doing making a difficult choice in an attempt to do what’s right.
