Google: China censor decision painful but right
Google founder defends China portal
Google’s corporate motto is- or at least, used to be- “Do no evil”. Well, that’s groovy for a bunch of doe-eyed idealists out to change the world, but now that Google is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, management has to answer to those who own Google stock and are expecting to make obscene amounts of money. Anyone who has ever sat through a macroeconomics class understands that capitalism and idealism are too often like oil and water- they just don’t mix. Such is the case with Google and China. In this case, it’s idealistic capitalism and repressive, brutal communism that don’t mix.
Now that Google has discovered that they have a shot at getting into the ginormous Chinese market, it would appear the company motto has been slightly modified:
Yes, even the doe-eyed idealists who run Google understand that the opportunity to make obscene boatloads of money trumps idealistic platitudes every time. Hey, ya gotta answer to the shareholders, remember?
SWITZERLAND: Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin said his company’s decision to self-censor its Chinese search system followed a change of heart over how best to foster the free flow of information.
Google said yesterday it will block politically sensitive terms on its new China search site and not offer e-mail, chat and blog publishing services, which authorities fear can become flashpoints for social or political protest.
Those actions go further than many of its biggest rivals in China.
“I didn’t think I would come to this conclusion — but eventually I came to the conclusion that more information is better, even if it is not as full as we would like to see,” Brin told Reuters in an interview in Switzerland.
Google, whose high-minded corporate motto is “Don’t be evil,” had previously refused to comply with internet censorship demands by Chinese authorities, rules that must be met in order to locate business operations inside China - the world’s No. 2 internet market.
I suppose it all depends upon how you want to spin Google’s decision. While I can understand Brin’s point, I cannot believe that there is ever an acceptable reason to give into the demands of a brutal dictatorship. Yes, Google will make boatloads of money in China, but the Chinese government will also benefit by having the ultimate say over what information is conveyed to the Chinese public. Essentially, then, Google is guilty of supporting the Communist Chinese government and their brutal, repressive agenda. Reprehensible? Without a doubt? Hypocritical? Yep. Good business? Udamnbetcha.
The sad thing is that Google can no longer claim to be any different than any other multinational corporation that does business with repressive regimes worldwide. Google’s founders wanted to do things differently, but in the end the lure of the Almighty Dollar proved to be more than even they could resist.
How sad….
