Google employees openly opposed the development of a search engine censored for China
The 2012 Doodle, directed against US bills, which, in the opinion of Google and many others, could seriously harm free speech on the Internet.
In 2010, Google closed its search engine in China, making many loud statements about the country's government. Then, the Chinese authorities demanded to filter the issue for some search queries, and having received a refusal, they blocked other services of the company. Google did not make concessions, and accused the government of organizing cyber attacks and violating people's rights to freedom of speech.
Today, eight years later, China is considered one of the most promising markets, despite the fact that the positions of the authorities have not become softer. Since August, rumors about the return of Google search engine to this market are being discussed.and the company's willingness to put up with Chinese censorship and other requirements. But corporate employees disagree with management. The other day, they made an open appeal and accused the company of treason against its principles.
On November 27, a Google Employees Against Dragonfly account appeared on Medium (Google employees vs. Dragonfly - the name of a project for adapting a search engine to Chinese requirements) Under this account published an open letter with an appeal to abandon the further development of the search engine with censorship. The text says that the project is not supported by thousands of employees, but so far about three hundred people have signed up to the appeal.
Many of us came to Google sharing the company's values, including its former position on censorship and spying on people in China. We thought that Google is a company that puts its values above profits. After a year full of disappointments - such as Project Maven ( contract for the development of military technology commissioned by the Pentagon - ed. ), Dragonfly and support for the abuser ( sex scandal around Andy Rubin , the creator of Android - ed. ) - we are no longer believe
Therefore, we join Amnesty International and demand that Google cancel the Dragonfly project.
According to them, by going to meet the Chinese authorities, Google itself will join the denial of human rights. Employees are not satisfied that China "is improving and expanding ways to control the population with the help of technology and the collection of personal data." As they say, the Chinese Uighurs (one of the northern provinces), human rights activists and students have already become victims of this approach.
According to some rumors, the search engine may start in the next few months. But Sundar Pichai, the head of Google, did not confirm this information . Nevertheless, he did not deny the fact of development either. “I want Google to be used all over the world, in every corner of it. Google is for everyone, ”he said,“ We want Chinese users to have access to it too. ”
Rumors appeared in early August, after an investigation into The Intercept . Journalists were able to familiarize themselves with confidential documents and talked about Google’s plans to return to China. According to them, the company owns several Chinese services, with the help of which it conducts marketing research and is studying ways to incorporate censorship into the search so that it fits the government’s demands.
Earlier this year, the company has already abandoned the billionth contract with the Pentagon.because of the dissatisfaction of their employees. Of course, the rejection of the struggle for the market, where almost one fifth of the world's population lives, is a more controversial issue. Google will never say it openly, but we all remember the main justification for fictional corporations from the cyberpunk worlds: “If we don’t do this, then someone else will.”
China, meanwhile, vividly shows a completely opposite view of ethical norms. The government openly speaks of “blacklists of unreliable citizens”, and develops a system of social rating - the rules of correct and incorrect behavior, which can seriously affect life. According to optimistic plans, China intends to introduce a social rating for all residents of the country by 2020.