June 7th, 2006
You want freedom? Come and get it
I was as hard on Google as anyone about its decision to censor content on its search engine in China, Google.cn. I applaud Sergey Brin today saying that maybe, just maybe, it was unethical to do so, after all. John Battelle says: "My, my, my."
I say, "more, more, more." Let’s not just talk about censorship being aLet Chinese users choose to be your customers regardless of the concerns of their government. bad idea, let’s see Google shut down its Chinese search engine or, better, simply put its uncensored data on the site and see what China does.
Why would that be a good idea? I believe that the evidence is that many Chinese have access to the Internet-beyond-the-Great-Firewall through proxy services. These users are evangelists for free access to information and, when confronted with a "localized" (e.g., censored) Google search engine, are actually thwarted in their efforts to get other Chinese to see that pushing for greater freedom is productive. We need to encourage people as Internet users to demand full access to the network, both for their good and to ensure freedoms here at home, where more and more of the network is being labeled unacceptable.
Free access to information in China, without helping the government identify who is searching for controversial information, is good for Chinese users. It’s also a bulwark to surveillance of Web usage in the United States.
Being censored is not good for Google market share in China. It makes Google search results exactly like every other search engine in the country, a purveyor of a veiled reality. If Google wants to be different, it must be the source of all information for the Chinese, not just government-approved information. That differentiation is key to winning market share from Chinese competitors.
What do we get when we search the Web? Choices. If our network companies seek to satisfy the Chinese with censored data, they prevent the Chinese users from exercising their ability to choose for themselves. Choice must be protected everywhere if it is to survive anywhere.
So, Sergey, please follow through on your comments today with real action. Let Chinese users choose to be your customers regardless of the concerns of their government. Shut down any censored services Google offers. Provide a Chinese-language service hosted outside China and let Chinese users seek freedom with Google, whom they will come to see as a purveyor of truth. You’ll win more customers that way and they’ll stick with you for the courage of your convictions—that’s loyalty you can’t achieve in league with despots.
Mitch Ratcliffe is a veteran journalist, media executive and entrepreneur. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 06/08/06
