Can business help to mitigate human rights? Google thinks they can at least try. Google’s efforts to stop China’s tight control of information, particularly web sites pertaining to human rights movements and the tragic events of Tiananmen Square, has resulted in Google retreating from China. While Google’s search results have been restricted by government orders since the site’s inception, Google eventually decided to stop censoring web pages blocked by the Chinese government. In January, Google discovered that the gmail accounts of human rights activists had been hacked through a series of sophisticated attacks suspected to be launched from Chinese governments. In retaliation, Google removed all restrictions to sites, allowing China to search freely. This act was not without punishment, and following unrelenting pressure from the Chinese government, Google redirected their Chinese site to a web domain run from Hong Kong.
While Google’s efforts appear valiant, not all Google shareholders would agree. The search engine market in China represents $1 billion and some shareholders see a wasted opportunity. But it could be argued that Google could gain a lot from this situation, and perhaps the Internet giant does not want to be seen as endorsing restrictions on democracy.
Despite Google’s efforts and its motivations, China can still block any action Google takes in providing restricted information to the people of China. China has already censored Google’s new version, run from Hong Kong, and is unimpressed by Google’s decision to terminate the original site. It seems as though it has become a battle of the tech-heads. While Google isn’t expected to give up, the company is fighting a powerful force. The communist party has an unequivocal stronghold over China and while China does represent a market of 1 billion people, companies are yet to conquer the East. However, many are still hopeful that the Internet could be the future of creating international freedom of speech.
