I'm sure everyone knows this isn't a new issue. About a month ago, Google servers somehow managed to get hacked by sources from China - eventually proven to be hackers with relations to the government - and the email accounts of various human rights activists were compromised. In retaliation, Google hacked the hackers back (thus finding out the identity of the Chinese hackers) and threatened to pull out of the country, before thinking about the dollar signs and instead threatened to stop censoring Google search results in China.
Well, since that whole fiasco, things have gone quiet until now. According to this article on Engadget, the big G is just about ready to lift the censorship, and surprise, surprise the Chinese government ain't happy bout it. But of course, in an issue such as this, we get the free speech zealots coming out of the woodwork trumpeting this decision by Google - Free speech for all! Censorship is bad! Screw the Chinese government and their totalitarian ways!
But do people actually realise that what Google is doing may be wrong?
Let's look at the facts here. I think by now there's no denying that the Chinese government got in touch with some people to hack into email accounts. Google's hack-back proves it and I make no excuses for the government here. It's a scummy act, and one that should not be condoned.
Google's initial reaction was to pull out of China. Right minded people called bullshit. No way Google was going to pull out of a country with the most Internet users in the world. It was just too large a market to not be a part of, and with Google basically being the Internet it would quite simply be a stupid move.
Now this censorship thing. Let me preface this by saying I lived in China for a while last year. And I admit I am no expert on the manner, but this is how I see it. Censoring information about factual historical events is wrong, censoring words like 'revolution', 'falun dafa' and 'democracy' is wrong. This is general information which should be available to anyone, regardless of where they live and how they access it.
But this is the policy of the government. Now, I am not saying that governments are always right nor that people should bow down to their government's every demand (*cough*Singapore*cough*), but who is Google to come in and tell the Chinese government how to run their country? The Chinese government allowed Google to operate there in the first place, and now they want to hold an entire country to ransom?
Make no mistake about it, the reason Google went into China and agreed to all the censorship laws in the first place was money. As much as they trumpet "Don't be evil", Google is a corporation - a publically listed one at that - and their goal is to make money. So for them to come now and suddenly tout themselves as guardians of the Chinese right to free speech; for them to disguise themselves as corporate advocates instead of a profit-hungry organisation is hypocritical and an insult to the intelligence of those who see right through it.
Let's go back to the start. Why did Google make such a big deal out of some of their gmail accounts being hacked that they threatened to pull out of the country? Again, I am not advocating what had been done, but I can't help feeling that this was merely a smokescreen to cover up the REAL issue here - Google's servers got hacked.
Yes, the servers at the world's premier tech company got hacked and they had to save face by diverting our attention elsewhere. Where else better than the emotional and controversial subject of Chinese governmental policy?
All I'm trying to say is that Google have no right to fly in the face of the Chinese government like that. The Chinese people will eventually start to fight for their right to free speech, and it is not Google's business to interfere. People forget that slavery was still around in America only 50 years ago. China is a country which has only very recently opened its economy up to the world. They are going through their own Industrial Revolution right now, having gone from being a nobody to one of the most influential countries on the world stage. As China matures there will be more calls internally for better human rights policies - it is simply the natural progression of a country.
No one can change the policies of the Chinese government except the Chinese people themselves. Google are not the ones who are going to come and instigate a revolution. They should not use this a cover up their own fallacies. It is despicable. It would certainly be a shame if Google were to be kicked out of the country by the government but I can't say I would blame them. Google should get back to who they really are - a tech company. Leave the politics to the politicians.
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