China’s Propaganda - Part 3 (Senator Dodd v. Google.cn)

Last time we wrote about how China’s propaganda machine seeks to kill competing viewpoints. The internet is a key battleground; the government devotes a huge amount of money and manpower to cleansing “objectionable” content, like information on Tibetan and Taiwanese independence, democracy, Falun Gong, etc.

The Chinese government can’t censor everything itself, however, so it co-opts internet companies to do its dirty work. For example, Google’s cave-in to the Chinese government’s censors is world-famous. Google.cn, the “cleansed” version of the search engine, is specifically made to filter out content to which the ever-sensitive Chinese government objects.

US Senator Chris Dodd, a Democratic presidential candidate, recently had this to say about Google’s shameful actions in China (full speech here):

Google’s unofficial motto is “Don’t Be Evil.”

But in the face of fear and uncertainty, it’s not enough to not be “evil.”

You need to do good.

In many ways, Google already is – but to face our challenges and to reject fear, you need to do better.

That is why I challenge you today to pledge that you will stand up for best practices – as a company, but also as individuals.

Practices that increase transparency and support technologies that expand free expression, reject business with repressive states, and protect users in those countries.

That is how the Internet can be part of something greater than ourselves and spread democratic principles around the world.

And you can start with this:

By telling the Chinese government that Google.cn will no longer censor information with Google’s consent.

And should the Chinese government not find that acceptable, Google.cn will be shut down.

I know you have already moved all of your search records out of China to prevent them from being turned over to the Chinese government.

But what better way to affirm Google’s commitment to democracy and the free flow of information as a human right than to send this message to the country with the largest population in the world?

Other candidates should stand with Senator Dodd in upholding the value of free speech and free information. As and when they do, this blog will aim to cover their statements and actions as well.