SFT’s Statement on Google’s new approach to China
STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET
January 14th 2010
Contact: Tenzin Dorjee, +1 646-724-0748
Kate Woznow, +1 917-601-0069
Tibetans, Supporters Welcome Google’s U-Turn on China Censorship
New York – Tibetans and their supporters worldwide applauded Google’s decision on Tuesday to stop censoring Internet searches in China. This decision was made in light of recent cyber attacks from China targeting the Gmail accounts of human rights advocates in the USA, China, and Europe. As of Tuesday evening, it was reported that websites previously blocked on Google.cn were accessible, including those displaying images of the Dalai Lama and information about the March 2008 Uprising in Tibet.
When Google announced in late January 2006 that it was launching Google.cn, a version of its popular search engine custom-built to meet the Chinese government’s cyber restrictions, Students for a Free Tibet was at the forefront of the campaign to oppose this decision. We encouraged anyone who was outraged and felt betrayed by Google’s actions to join an online boycott of the company’s services, and on Valentine’s Day more than 12,000 people “broke-up” with Google. 45,000 people sent emails to Google’s executives voicing their concern and protests were held outside Google offices worldwide.
“Access to information is a critical tool to Tibetans struggling for human rights and freedom. We hope that Google will uphold its decision not to censor search results on Google.cn,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “Let this be a wake-up call to other western corporations operating in China. Colluding with Beijing’s repressive policies does not bring about positive change or greater freedoms for anyone.”
Tenzin Seldon, a regional coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet, was one of a dozen people whose Gmail accounts were attacked by Chinese hackers. “My email account was likely hacked because I am a Tibetan activist. In recent years, the Tibet movement has successfully publicized the Chinese government’s human rights abuses and unmasked its repressive and colonialist policies in Tibet. This has made us a target of email viruses and other cyber-attacks from China,” said 20-year old Seldon, whose experience was referenced in an article published by the New York Times. “But this has only demonstrated the effectiveness of our work for human rights and freedom in Tibet.”
“While deeply disturbing, it is not surprising that Google users who advocate human rights in China were targeted by these cyber attacks,” said Nathan Dorjee, Students for a Free Tibet’s technology advisor. “Tibet activists have become all too familiar with these attacks in recent years. During the March 2008 Uprising in Tibet, we experienced a marked increase in the volume and sophistication of email and other cyber-based attacks designed to collect information and to impede our work.”
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I’m also glad Google has stopped censoring its Chinese language website. So far the Chinese Govt hasn’t shut it down, but it just might. Google should then pull out of China. Microsoft, on the other hand, said they will continue to censor their search engines in China, such as Bing.com. All who oppose censorship should tell Bill Gates/Microsoft that until they agree to not censor their websites in China, we will stop using Bing.com and other similar Microsoft websites.