Google’s policy blog just announced that Google, along with several other companies around the world, has been subjected to Chinese-sponsored cyber attacks. As a result, Google will stop censoring the search results on Google.cn and as a consequence, may close its Chinese offices.
This decision is refreshing. Despite over two decades of easing restriction on its people, Chinese regime remains brutally oppressive and continues to commit heinous crimes against its own people. In a world that’s all too eager to look the other way so it can cash-in on China’s economic boom, Google has decided to forgo profits and take a stand against this oppressive regime.
I hope that many other companies follow Google’s lead. Perhaps even the US government could do so, but so long as China owns one out of every four dollars of foreign-held US debt, Google shouldn’t count on it.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.