On the Soapbox

I have to admit that I was pretty surprised at how very negatively and intensely most of the tech community is reacting to Google's censorship in China. So anyway, here's my take on this whole thing as a Chinese-American...

Background: .com vs. .cn

Google's actions simply involve the establishment of a new google.cn domain. Searches on this new .cn domain are censored. They are not on the .com domain. So anyone who wants to get the uncensored results can just use the .com domain. There is a Chinese language interface for google.com (there's even a Klingon language interface), and that was where I was taken when I tried to use Google search from China last summer: the uncensored google.com domain served from a server in the States using a Chinese language interface (because it detected that I was visiting from a Chinese IP address). Even gmail.com (a service that Google does not intend to officially introduce in China for some time) worked. None of these .com services are affected, as they represent servers not located in China. The downside was that these services were often slow and were sometimes completely inaccessible (considering that I could get fairly decent speeds when I SSH'ed into a private server in the US, I suspect some sort of government foul play). Not that these uncensored results did me much good, since I couldn't access a number of sites (without setting up a SSH tunnel :p), and believe me, there are a LOT of sites (even cnn.com!) that are affected by the vaunted "Great Firewall of China," which certainly lives up to its name.

In the end, nothing has changed. Google has simply added some servers in China and are being forced to comply with the standard set of government restrictions for those .cn servers only (i.e., if google.com is still accessible, then people can still get uncensored results). And before people bash Google too much, let's not forget about all the other companies doing business in China who are being forced to obey these local laws, and unlike the other search providers in China, Google openly discloses the censorship when displaying results.

But it's the principle of the matter!

Many claim that Google does have an option, and that's to not do anything. Not entering the Chinese market will certainly hurt Google's bottom line, but Google's mantra of "do no evil" seems to suggest that doing the right thing should trump the pursuit of treasure. Despite being a free-market economist, I do admire and strongly believe in this "do no evil" mantra, but there is one very important point that I think people are missing: what is the evil that is being done? What would things be like if Google does absolutely nothing? Does it make the Chinese more free? No. Would Google refusal to officially enter the Chinese market inspire the Chinese? Considering that Google's presence in China is so small (gee, I wonder why?) that most Chinese are not aware of it, no. Does Google's entrance into the Chinese market help the Chinese government in any way? Considering that the Chinese government could probably care less if there's one more search provider in China, no. Does this action by Google hurt the Chinese in any way? No (remember, there's always google.com, which is unaffected!). Does this action by Google affect users outside of China in any way, shape, or form? No. Does this action by Google serve as an endorsement and statement of support for the ways of the Chinese government? Only if you want to read it that way; remember, censorship in china is mandatory, not voluntary, and Google's official statement contains no statements that can be construed as support for the policies of the Chinese government. Of course, just because a law exists doesn't mean that it should be honored; it is the duty of people to resist unjust laws. But what can Google do? Google is in no position to offer any sort of challenge to Chinese laws; only the Chinese people are in such a position. So, um, where's the "evil"? Ruining the environment is an evil that is not easily justified by profit. Installing spyware is an evil that is not easily justified by profit. But, I ask again, where is the evil in setting up restricted servers in China? There was a photo on a news website showing supporters of the Free Tibet movement holding signs and protesting Google's move. Despite being sympathetic to Tibetans, I have to wonder if these people ever considered for just one second exactly what kind of harm Google has done to their movement. Anyway, to sum it up, if there is no true "evil" involved, then why shouldn't Google try to firm up its bottom line?

General Thoughts: China

China is slowly becoming more and more democratic. I was struck by how willing people were when it came to criticizing the government. Hop into any random taxi cab, strike up a conversation about government, and out comes a string of harsh words directed at the government. I find it odd that foreign news services doesn't seem to be able to pick up on this. In any case, the liberalization of China is a gradual process fueled by growing affluence and growing influence from the outside world (I'd imagine that the Internet helps). A bold (and foolish) gesture of defiance from Google is not going to do nearly as much good for democracy as the gradual improvement of China's information networks. Every Chinese knows about censorship, and they even joke about what can or can't be said. Censorship isn't working, and it's only a matter of time before the dam breaks. By offering services in China, Google is contributing to the water behind that dam. In the end, censorship in China is not Google's problem and there's nothing that any foreign entity could do anything about; it's ultimately a problem with the Chinese government that only the people of China can do anything about.

General Thoughts: Google

I have always been impressed with Google track record. Resisting the DOJ's ridiculous crusade against pornography (before someone compares this to the China scenario, remember that challenging the Chinese government and challenging the US government are two very different ballgames), being forward and upfront about controversial points that less honorable companies would've tried to hide, supporting open source, setting up strict guidelines for its software installers, supporting open chat standards, supporting open source, etc. are all examples of Google's "do no evil" policy, and my faith in them have yet to be shaken. Besides, I would much rather have the Chinese be introduced to the wonders of the Internet by way of Google instead of by way of Microsoft. ;)