Both Google and Yahoo have made information that was once unreachable searchable via the Internet. The companies have a mission to gather worldwide information and make it accessible to virtually everyone. Though in many countries these companies’ missions have raised concerns.
Foreign governments have challenged the policies and practices of companies like Google. The Chinese government streams and controls the Internet. In China, technology is monitored using government-controlled tools that filter what information its citizens receive. The Chinese government fears that Google is in alliance with the US government in terms of intelligence and security. This means that critics see Google as a violation to citizen’s privacy, lack of censorship and a way of gaining knowledge about other countries’ intellectual property.
I would first like to point out that China is under communist control. Thus from an American stand point we see the Chinese government as taking away its citizens’ freedom. However if you look closely at the situation it is not up to another country to decide what their citizens see. I do not have an issue with China monitoring their citizens. I firmly believe that the Chinese values are the reason behind its strict governance.
I have done research on Google vs. China for my international management class, so I know that Google has access to a search engine method that filters out data. I believe that after a heated debate the Chinese government and Google came to a reasonable consensus. China now has Google China, which contains firewall filters and block unwanted links. I believe it is in Google, and other search engine companies’ best interests to work with foreign governments to make sure that their search ramifications are suitable to citizens.
"I Pledge" - KES
References:
Blown to Bits by Abelson, Hal
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=9062
Well done, on both posts.
ReplyDelete