Google announced Monday that it will stop censoring search results in China, setting up a confrontation with the country’s strict regime.
Through a post on its blog, Google announced it would discontinue the censored version of the search engine previously used in China and instead redirect Chinese users to an uncensored version of Google based in Hong Kong.
“We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement,” said Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond in the blog post.
Drummond also acknowledged the risks associated with Google’s decision to essentially turn its back on a market of 400 million web users, the largest in any country in the world.
“We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services,” he said.
An unnamed Chinese official with the State Council Information Office accused Google of violating promises in a statement issued to the Xinhua News Agency, which is controlled by the state.
“Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks,” the official said.
The official also condemned Google’s decision to try to bypass Chinese censorship, saying “Foreign companies must abide by Chinese laws and regulations when they operate in China.”
However, in the blog post Drummond said Google’s move was “entirely legal.”
Google’s announcement came after weeks of speculation that the company would pull out of China entirely following an incident in which Google was the victim of a cyber attack by hackers that were traced back to China.
The move also followed ethical debates regarding corporate responsibility, in which Google said they were fundamentally opposed to the blocking of banned content.
In the blog Google also said it would continue many of its operations in China, including its research and development and sales teams, and emphasized that the decision was made by Google executives in the United States and not in China.
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