I think a lot of people are missing the point and developing their entire points of view just based on what a headline reads (not most of the people… but a number of them).
To effect change anywhere in the world, you must get your foot in the door (as a previous commentor stated).
What will effect greater change in the future? Getting a partially censored google in China… or having google shut out of China all together?
Putting our foot down and saying “STAY OUT OF CHINA THEN” may make us in North America feel all good about ourselves morally… but it will do nothing for the people in China.
Most change in the world evolves, it grows and it develops with steps.
Should Google be censored in China? NO!!! But that’s the reality, and it’s better than not having them there at all.
As for the ridiculous statment by an above poster who said “It’s ok to censor Google in Germany becaues we don’t want Neo-Nazis to be able to search for their own propoganda”… that’s just nonsense. YOU ONLY BELIEVE IN FREEDOM TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU DEFEND THE FREEDOM OF THOSE YOU MOST DISAGREE WITH” (Caps are for emphasis… not yelling)
If not, then what we’re all really saying is “You can be free… as long as you agree with us”. That more than anything else sounds like a totalitarian government to me.
Having said all that, I respect this site for using a forum to express an objection. I may not agree with the objection… but I admire them for doing something that they believe in. Good on ya.
LOL what’s really funny is that you dumbasses that usually spend your time talking about a pathetic little sport have now gotten all political. Very funny!
Reply
Nick
I’ve noticed that you have chosen to continue using Yahoo’s services despite the fact that they also censor there search engine in China.
More then that, they do not even tell you that you’ve been censored. Arguably this makes them more evil.
Just a though.
Reply
ML
I’m obviously coming a little late to this discussion, but Google is getting way too much criticism on this issue and this seems like a good place to sound off.
Google is faced with two choices: Operate in China and obey Chinese laws, or don’t operate in China. Had they chosen the latter route, then it would have been an irrelevant protest. Furthermore, Chinese web users can access everything that is filtered on google.cn by accessing … google.com! The Chinese aren’t morons. They are web savvy, and they know these things.
It is interesting, too, to note that if Chinese web users use google.cn and type in, say, “Tiananmen 1989,” they’ll be told “To comply with local laws, regulations and policies, some search results are not displayed.” This in itself is subversive, as it might whet the appetite to dig a little deeper.
To quote Jeremy Goldkorn, a contributor to the excellent danwei.org, a site devoted to commentary on media in China, “The international version of Google is still accessible in China…. Google has not censored the Internet. All they have done is to ensure that the Google engine hosted on Chinese territories complies with the Chinese government’s demands. Chinese Google users are still free to go to international Google sites if they want unfiltered results. There is no reduction in the amount or type of information available on the Internet in China.” (See http://www.danwei.org/archives/002398.html)
China deserves all the heat it gets for suppressing free speech. Knocking Google, however, is misplaced anger.
I think a lot of people are missing the point and developing their entire points of view just based on what a headline reads (not most of the people… but a number of them).
To effect change anywhere in the world, you must get your foot in the door (as a previous commentor stated).
What will effect greater change in the future? Getting a partially censored google in China… or having google shut out of China all together?
Putting our foot down and saying “STAY OUT OF CHINA THEN” may make us in North America feel all good about ourselves morally… but it will do nothing for the people in China.
Most change in the world evolves, it grows and it develops with steps.
Should Google be censored in China? NO!!! But that’s the reality, and it’s better than not having them there at all.
As for the ridiculous statment by an above poster who said “It’s ok to censor Google in Germany becaues we don’t want Neo-Nazis to be able to search for their own propoganda”… that’s just nonsense. YOU ONLY BELIEVE IN FREEDOM TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU DEFEND THE FREEDOM OF THOSE YOU MOST DISAGREE WITH” (Caps are for emphasis… not yelling)
If not, then what we’re all really saying is “You can be free… as long as you agree with us”. That more than anything else sounds like a totalitarian government to me.
Having said all that, I respect this site for using a forum to express an objection. I may not agree with the objection… but I admire them for doing something that they believe in. Good on ya.
LOL what’s really funny is that you dumbasses that usually spend your time talking about a pathetic little sport have now gotten all political. Very funny!
I’ve noticed that you have chosen to continue using Yahoo’s services despite the fact that they also censor there search engine in China.
More then that, they do not even tell you that you’ve been censored. Arguably this makes them more evil.
Just a though.
I’m obviously coming a little late to this discussion, but Google is getting way too much criticism on this issue and this seems like a good place to sound off.
Google is faced with two choices: Operate in China and obey Chinese laws, or don’t operate in China. Had they chosen the latter route, then it would have been an irrelevant protest. Furthermore, Chinese web users can access everything that is filtered on google.cn by accessing … google.com! The Chinese aren’t morons. They are web savvy, and they know these things.
It is interesting, too, to note that if Chinese web users use google.cn and type in, say, “Tiananmen 1989,” they’ll be told “To comply with local laws, regulations and policies, some search results are not displayed.” This in itself is subversive, as it might whet the appetite to dig a little deeper.
To quote Jeremy Goldkorn, a contributor to the excellent danwei.org, a site devoted to commentary on media in China, “The international version of Google is still accessible in China…. Google has not censored the Internet. All they have done is to ensure that the Google engine hosted on Chinese territories complies with the Chinese government’s demands. Chinese Google users are still free to go to international Google sites if they want unfiltered results. There is no reduction in the amount or type of information available on the Internet in China.” (See http://www.danwei.org/archives/002398.html)
China deserves all the heat it gets for suppressing free speech. Knocking Google, however, is misplaced anger.
Google is doing the best they can out of a bad situation.