Posted by Andrew McLaughlin, senior
policy counsel
Google users in China today struggle with a service that, to be
blunt, isn't very good.
href="http://www.google.com/" >Google.com appears to be down
around 10% of the time. Even when users can reach it, the website
is slow, and sometimes produces results that when clicked on, stall
out the user's browser. Our
href="http://news.google.com/" >Google News service is never
available;
href="http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=" >Google
Images is accessible only half the time. At Google we work hard
to create a great experience for our users, and the level of
service we've been able to provide in China is not something
we're proud of.
This problem could only be resolved by creating a local presence,
and this week we did so, by launching
href="http://Google.cn" >Google.cn, our website for the
People's Republic of China. In order to do so, we have agreed
to remove certain sensitive information from our search results. We
know that many people are upset about this decision, and frankly,
we understand their point of view. This wasn't an easy choice,
but in the end, we believe the course of action we've chosen
will prove to be the right one.
Launching a Google domain that restricts information in any way
isn't a step we took lightly. For several years, we've
debated whether entering the Chinese market at this point in
history could be consistent with our mission and values. Our
executives have spent a lot of time in recent months talking with
many people, ranging from those who applaud the Chinese government
for its embrace of a market economy and its lifting of 400 million
people out of poverty to those who disagree with many of the
Chinese government's policies, but who wish the best for China
and its people. We ultimately reached our decision by asking
ourselves which course would most effectively further Google's
mission to organize the world's information and make it
universally useful and accessible. Or, put simply: how can we
provide the greatest access to information to the greatest number
of people?
Filtering our search results clearly compromises our mission.
Failing to offer Google search at all to a fifth of the world's
population, however, does so far more severely. Whether our critics
agree with our decision or not, due to the severe quality problems
faced by users trying to access Google.com from within China, this
is precisely the choice we believe we faced. By launching Google.cn
and making a major ongoing investment in people and infrastructure
within China, we intend to change that.
No, we're not going to offer some Google products, such as
href="http://mail.google.com/mail/" >Gmail or
href="http://www.blogger.com/home" >Blogger, on Google.cn until
we're comfortable that we can do so in a manner that respects
our users' interests in the privacy of their personal
communications. And yes, Chinese regulations will require us to
remove some sensitive information from our search results. When we
do so, we'll disclose this to users, just as we already do in
those rare instances where we alter results in order to comply with
local laws in France, Germany and the U.S.
Obviously, the situation in China is far different than it is in
those other countries; while China has made great strides in the
past decades, it remains in many ways closed. We aren't happy
about what we had to do this week, and we hope that over time
everyone in the world will come to enjoy full access to
information. But how is that full access most likely to be
achieved? We are convinced that the Internet, and its continued
development through the efforts of companies like Google, will
effectively contribute to openness and prosperity in the world. Our
continued engagement with China is the best (perhaps only) way for
Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal
information access to all our users there.
We're in this for the long haul. In the years to come,
we'll be making significant and growing investments in China.
Our launch of google.cn, though filtered, is a necessary first step
toward achieving a productive presence in a rapidly changing
country that will be one of the world's most important and
dynamic for decades to come. To some people, a hard compromise may
not feel as satisfying as a withdrawal on principle, but we believe
it's the best way to work toward the results we all desire.
Tags: , Andrew, counselGoogle, McLaughlin, policy, Posted, Senior, users
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