Recently, in a significant development, Google, the world's leading search engine company, announced that it would stop
censoring search results on its Chinese site, Google.cn. According to the
company's blog, this move was the outcome of a `highly sophisticated' attack on
its website from China and the infiltration of the accounts of human rights
activists in China and other countries. Google said that the assault was
primarily aimed at breaking into the company's e-mail service, `Gmail,' in
an attempt to gain access to the accounts of human rights activists protesting
the Chinese government's policies. The hackers succeeded in partially
penetrating two such accounts. Without divulging the details, the company
revealed that it and at least 20 other major companies from the Internet to
financial services to media industries were targeted.
The change of stance by the technology giant signifies a major shift in
its strategy, as it had repeatedly said earlier that it would comply with the
Chinese laws requiring some politically and socially sensitive contents to
be blocked from the search results. The free-speech and human rights
groups have welcomed the move and are hoping that Google's about-turn will
incite more companies to follow suit. Again, some people see Google's latest move
to quit the market on the excuse of hacking and ethical issues as a graceful way
out of a doomed business in the mainland. Whatsoever, it is definitely a highly
uncommon rebuke of China by one of the most admired technology
companies, which had 300 million Web users in the country, and it will certainly
tarnish China's image as the home to big multinationals and will surely
infuriate China's government. But given the technological novelty and the scramble
of the Chinese people for free information, it may not lead to a virtual exit
of Google from China.
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