Google Suggest Disabled In China Due To Porn

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The Chinese government has asked Google to disable Google Suggest because it has been suggesting that people search for pornography based on its analysis of the most popular search terms in China. This comes on the heels of a fake CCTV interview being used to support the government requirement that all new computers ship with the 'Green Dam' Internet censoring program, which is still in force, despite reports to the contrary." The story on the chinaSMACK site demonstrates that Chinese search engine Baidu features a comparable search-suggestion function, which similarly recommends adult-themed sites, but that the government has not attacked Baidu over the issue of porn.

Comments

Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's face it, the Chinese government censors and blocks whatever they feel like, the Chinese people know and accept it.
So why does slashdot post these stories anytime XXX blocks/censors anything in China? Let's face it, it's not news anymore. It doesn't affect my rights online or anybody else's outside China.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[ThisIsForReal]

And if we learned anything from Hugh Grant, that can be hard enough even in a country where you do speak the language. Divine Brown, ahem, ahem.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Darkness404]

...Its Google, its an American company. They can do the same thing over here. When you think about it and the recent "block everything" mentality from both democrats and republicans, soon China's internet might just be your internet.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Anonymous Coward]

No you are wrong. They can't do the same thing over here. We have something called the rule of law here. We have a 1st Amendment. The stuff that happens in China can't even be remotely applied to the United States. Please stop this slippery slope nonsense.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[delta419]

Can I sell you my tinfoil hat?

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Meshach]

To hell with China.

Unfortunately I suspect that the billions of people in Chine will be too big a market for a company like Google to pass up. A non-profit company like wikipedia may refuse to censor but I doubt you will get a similar response from a for-profit business. That big a market is too big to pass up.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[supernova_hq]

Have you Americans already started to pretend the patriot act doesn't exist? It's not about the Internet per say, but sure as hell went against half the constitution!

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[icebike]

> Have you Americans already started to pretend the patriot act doesn't exist?

For all intents and purposes, it doesn't.

It certainly does not affect anyone I know and deal with. There is no problem finding port or violent content or gambling or illegal drugs on the web.

For all the hue and cry, no one has been inconvenienced by the Patriot Act. We don't like it, and it will eventually be changed.

But it is nothing at all like what is happening in China no matter how loudly you harangue us with your silly moral equivalence argument.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[tchdab1]

Yes we have the rule of law.
We have due process, yet we know of people held by our government for years without trial.
We have the Geneva conventions, yet we know people have been recently tortured by our government.
We have the right against unlawful search, yet we know the government has been listening on our domestic correspondence without permission from the courts.
We have the right against unlawful seizure, yet the government regularly seizes items (such as cash and property) it considers unlawful and without process.
Congress alone can declare war, yet we have armies engaged without war being declared.

What's one more stupid internet filter in light of all this?
If you don't act to maintain your rule of law, you will lose it.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Anonymous Coward]

The world is bigger than your backyard. Come out of your cave already.

Send a mail to Taco to give you some stats on non-US page views of this site.

and FYI, I am in China atm, you insensitive clod!

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[ScrewMaster]

It certainly does not affect anyone I know and deal with.

Prove it.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[rts008]

Oh really?
Surely your slippery slope nonsense could never be considered here.
Especially nothing involving '...an "Advanced Electronic Surveillance" project, and $97.6 million to establish the Biometric Technology Center.' , or maybe the FBI's "Everything Bucket" , not to mention the FBI's spy trojan, or maybe the 'FBI and States Vastly Expand DNA Collection, Databases' , and lest we forget, the warrantless wiretapping, PATRIOT Act, and others.

Please stop this slippery slope nonsense.

We will do so when the gov't. stops greasing the slope, spraying it with oil, and coating it in teflon as they are currently doing.

If I missed the 'sarcasm tag', ignore this reply, and my apologies for the miscommunication.(I truly hope this was the case)

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Burden of proof is the other way around here.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Anonymous Coward]

What's one more stupid internet filter in light of all this?

You forgot a really important one.

The customs area at entry points to the US is now declared to be "in no country". Therefore customs officers can inspect, seize and retain for an unlimited time (eighteen months and counting, in at least one case) any object they care to.

You would think that "in no country", your rights as an American citizen would follow you. Not so. Some who are familiar with the New Testament may remember that the apostle Paul was once arrested and bound somewhere in the Roman Empire. He had only to say, "I am a Roman citizen" and his captors could not have made greater haste to release his bonds. It was a staple of Roman law that a Roman citizen could not be bound. Penalties for doing so were severe.

As a result of this US policy, some large corporations will do a clean install on a laptop to protect proprietary or trade secret data. A complete, restorable backup is then transmitted to the foreign destination. Before return, the offsite backup is destroyed and a clean system is reinstalled.

Apropos of government power over information, I'm now listening to a program on PBS about premonitions. One woman canceled a flight to the UN on 9/11 because of a premonition. Canceling such a trip is most strongly discouraged. In response to an idle comment where the interviewer wondered how many people had canceled flights that day, it turns out that any available data that has been collected by the airlines on such cancellations has been seized by the FBI and will not be made available for study or analysis.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[Mr2001]

Due process only applies to citizens.

False. The 14th Amendment reads, in part, "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law". Any person, not any citizen; the writers knew the difference.

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[mdwh2]

I agree. Also, even if Google aren't going to do the same thing in the US - it's still relevant interest if a US company is complying with censorship requests for China.

Not to mention that there are other countries besides China and the US, that don't have freedom of speech in the way that the US has, e.g., there are many readers from Europe (including myself).

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[hardin0341]

But why? Why?? WHY??? Is this a Chinese government conspiracy??

Re:Why Is Chinese Censorship News On Slashdot??!!

[z-j-y]

when we send some illegals back to their home country, are we depriving their lives? or liberties? or properties?

fuck off.

Baidu benefits from being Chinese

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps I am completely wrong but it seems like China is giving preferential treatment to the Chinese owned competitor to Google, Baidu, by not taking it to task for the same offending practices, even though it holds a lead over Google in searches in China. I certainly would not put it above China to be using government intervention to give favor to Chinese company. But I must admit I really don't like China, The chinese are great people but their government is scary.

Re:Baidu benefits from being Chinese

[Frosty Piss]

Perhaps I am completely wrong but it seems like China is giving preferential treatment to the Chinese owned competitor to Google, Baidu, by not taking it to task for the same offending practices

Do you know for a fact the Baidu search has the same characteristics that Google is being brought to task for? Maybe not...

Re:Baidu benefits from being Chinese

[rts008]

Perhaps I am completely wrong but it seems like China is giving preferential treatment to the Chinese owned competitor to Google, Baidu, by not taking it to task for the same offending practices, even though it holds a lead over Google in searches in China. I certainly would not put it above China to be using government intervention to give favor to Chinese company.

This is likely a part of the issue.
China has a history/tradition of being isolationist and xenophobic of other cultures and societies, with an attitude of superiority.
China has a long and much copied culture that has a tendency to back those attitudes, but is now having to experience 'growing pains' trying to establish itself as a 'player' in the modern global setting that most of the rest of the world is participating in.

I notice this same issue with many Middle Eastern nations trying to come into the modern global world setting.(between the Middle East and China...two of the oldest cultures around)
Maybe all of that ancient culture induces a mindset that is detrimental to easily adapting to the modern world?

Re:Baidu benefits from being Chinese

[Uber Banker]

And sadly it's nothing special. When typing a URL that doesn't resolve on a mainland China ISP a Baidu-sponsored search page (full of ads, no simple search box) appears. It was only in 2006 when google.com itself was redirected to baidu.com by some ISPs some of the time. Some of the country (in major cities, forget the countryside) has the facade of development, but with basic corruption endemic at the bottom and top levels, it has a whole lot further to go.

Re:Baidu benefits from being Chinese

[jack2000]

Except the money involved in both cases is on an entirely different scale. THINK about what you're saying!

"ship with" or "must use"?

[speedtux]

All the reports about Green Dam I have read have said that computers only need to "ship with" it. In fact, some reports said that it was OK for manufacturers to just stick a CD in the package. That doesn't mean people are required to use it, merely that they have the software available if they want to.

So, what's the deal? Are PCs merely required to "ship with" the software, or are they required to install it? Are are people required to use it?

Re:"ship with" or "must use"?

[mercurized]

I guess this is the same "shipping with" deal that you have if you buy a computer in the US or in Europe nowadays.. You can be sure you have all the finest Crapware(tm) pre-installed. And i am not only talking Microsoft here, there is nearly anything you can imagine, from Demo-Versions of crappy tools up to Trial-Versions of other Stuff that happily asks you to buy when you fire up that PC. In multiple cases there is not even a single CD shipping with these CDs, the "Crapware Welcome Assistant" helps you to create a "Recovery CD" on your own once you start it.

miibeian.gov.cn

[sakdoctor]

That site must have some freaking amazing pagerank, since every single site hosted in China is required to register and link to it.

Not news

[Anonymous Coward]

It isn't a big news and it is not new for sure.

Re:Not news

[davester666]

Baidu suggests Chinese gov't sponsored porn...that's why it's OK.

Caucasian porn?

[JustShootMe]

So, in China, do they look for caucasian porn?

The cutest Oklahoma schoolgirls! Now with all their teeth!*

*schoolgirls is 18 in America, so tough, you caucasian fetishists you.

Re:Caucasian porn?

[vampire_baozi]

Yes, they do. Posting from Beijing, I can verify that Western Porn and Japanese porn is very much in demand. More than one Chinese friend has asked me to introduce him to well-endowed Western girls.

Not a trend, by any means, but men will be men, the world over. And let's face it, Japanese porn is WAY too fucked up to survive on.

But on the actual subject, yeah, it sounds like they're just picking on Google China. Baidu's image search also has a "suggestion" function, where after you search it lists similar search terms at the bottom of the page. Try searching for anything with the character for "female" in it, and see what Baidu suggests......

Re:Caucasian porn?

[sys.stdout.write]

Japanese porn is WAY too fucked up to survive on

But you forget: they promised to stop!

Protectionism

[Anonymous Coward]

China is just doing this to give its own search engines a competitive edge. It does this with the film industry by only allowing 10 foreign films to be shown in China per year.

Re:Protectionism

[hackingbear]

That's generally correct. And we can't do anything about it because China is our largest bank that gives us the biggest credit lines. They are now too big to fail as well. Before they became our Big Bank; they were our biggest allied fighting the Soviets in the 70s and 80s, and so the US had to give in to their demand as well. That's called deals.

For companies like Google, the easiest solution is just to buy up some right officials (via hidden means,) then everything will be fine. China has their weak spot too. In China, you can accomplish anything big by bribing some officials; illegal but doable. In the US, you can accomplish anything big by contributing to the campaign of some politicians, legal and doable.

Re:Protectionism

[Celeste R]

Limiting the competition doesn't give a competitive edge, it creates a monopoly mentality.

Baidu won't get better as quickly without that competition; and lowering the bar doesn't make competition a driving force.

This is akin to saying "lightbulbs only have to be this good; and because this brand is local, we're removing the competition."

If they want to give Baidu a competitive edge, I'd suggest limitations to the thoroughput that Google can attribute to Google Suggest. This would be like putting import restrictions on foreign bulbs, which doesn't ban them altogether, and still allows local industries to catch up technology-wise.

Re:Protectionism

[Rick Genter]

When you have a market of 1.5 billion potential consumers, a monopoly works just fine; you don't need competition to thrive.

Re:Protectionism

[mynickslongerthanurs]

Exactly. Consider Baidu.com (Google China's largest competitor) donated 40 million RMB to CCTV (who has been doing substantial exposure on "Google's key role in spreading pornography"). So it's likely there is econimical reasons as well as political ones behind this one.

Re:Protectionism

[ScrewMaster]

In the process of replacing the USA, china will go thru all the same step.

All you America-bashers out there should listen to this particular A.C. Ask yourself this question: will the world be a better place when America is dead and gone and the Chinese government is running the show?

I know a lot of you hate us, but be very, very careful what you wish for. Not that it matters: all empires, whether they be military or strictly economic (like ours) eventually disappear. If you're such an empire, if you're lucky you just fade away ... if you're not, your successor destroys you or occupies you. Whatever, I'm just annoyed that it's likely to happen in my lifetime. I was kinda hoping that I'd be dead and gone before we go the way of the Dodo bird, but due to the three most basic human emotions exhibited by our government and corporate leaders (e.g., greed, greed, and, well, greed, with a healthy helping of shortsightedness, treason and general stupidity) the process is happening far more quickly than I'd prefer.

Do I blame China for what's happening to us? Nope. I blame us, because we're too goddamned STUPID to protect what our ancestors built for us, to protect our own interestes. We set up a free candy store, and the Chinese (and everyone else who wanted a free kickstart into the 21st century) just came in and took whatever they wanted, and when that wasn't enough, we gave them everything else. Now, most of us don't actually like that very much, but since we've elected an entire generation of fools and sellouts, we're kinda screwed now. Our Native American friends made much the same mistake. Huh, I guess history does repeat itself after all.

Re:Protectionism

[iNaya]

... were our biggest allied fighting the Soviets in the 70s and 80s...

Insightful?

Re:Protectionism

[Uber Banker]

Hmmm, I find few British people have the same sentiment about the US than Americans have about China. And by your analogy the should be, well, analogous.

Re:Protectionism

[stephanruby]

We set up a free candy store, and the Chinese (and everyone else who wanted a free kickstart into the 21st century) just came in and took whatever they wanted

We gave them Opium. We gave them Hollywood. We gave them cigarettes. But the candies, no, I'm pretty sure that's all Chinese nowadays (at least the Cadbury ones anyway).

Re:Protectionism

[Bazar]

Your entire post leaves me wondering.

China as a whole seems to keep to itself. It will regulate inself, and any outside interferance. So the idea of china ruling the world could only really happen economically, in which case we won't be a state of china, just a trading partner. (In fact New Zealand already is the first trading partner to china).

So the world being better if china took over is such a pear shaped world, i can't see what could cause it. I'm not happy with how china censors everything inside itself, but its CHINA. I'm not Chinese, nor do i live there. It is not my place to say how they should and shouldn't rule.

Now going back to America, I have no idea what your dribbling on about. You talk about the end of America like they are going to implode because their technology was stolen. America isn't a company where if the blueprints for its next device is leaked, it goes bankrupt.

It does however pay to note that its not far off bankruptcy, due to stupid policies, and some VERY stupid policies. If their government wasn't crooked, and the voters informed, and willing to vote for hard progress, rather then easy debt, i believe we'd see America start to pull ahead.

As it is now, America's greatest failing is they have no concern about where their money comes from. If they did the housing market wouldn't of collapsed, the war wouldn't' of drained their coffers, and hell, even the car industry might be in a leaner shape rather then relying on government handouts to keep the lard well smoothed.

Time will tell how dearly the pay for their actions, i just hope they don't take my country down with them when they do. (Like this world wide recession they created.. thanks!)

Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[unlametheweak]

The day that government's and people in general get over their neurotic reactions to pornography is the day when you will see Authoritarianism die and Civilization flourish. Pornography, like it or lump it, is a signpost of Civilization and Freedom.

Re:Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[patch0]

how does one 'lump' pornography? - no wait, on second thought....

Re:Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[Celeste R]

And from their point of view, pornography is the symptom of undisciplined actions, as well as overextending the activities of people in ways that are ultimately futile.

Both oversimplified points of view are the result of popularized culture.

The day when people in general get embrace moderation (the old definition; the kind that keeps things from becoming a controlling factor) and education (not institutionalized, but the uninhibited growth of the mind) will be the day when you see civilization truly start to flourish.

Our own propagandized signposts of civilization or authoritarianism often serve to cover up the ugly truth.

Re:Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[Celeste R]

Agreed, but pornography doesn't make a culture intelligent or better than another culture, only different from another culture.

By the way, there was no slight intended; I was only stating one thing does not necessarily precede another. Just because a society is liberal enough to either ban or embrace pornography (i.e. nude colonies) does not make them more enlightened, if anything it only changes the circumstances of the never-ending pissing contest.

Our own cultural dual-mindedness concerning pornography is not so different from Chinese or Islam points of view; we're all humans, and we act generally the same, even if our cultural differences are significant. Nobody's from outer space, even if we feel they should be.

Dual-mindedness is a very human trait. Why do we lie when we know the truth? Why do we cover up what is shameful to us? Human psychology is funny like that.

A culture that prohibits something usually has something rationale to it. Take, for example, an emotional underdevelopment within a culture (do you imagine I'm so and so in bed? cue Jealousy). It's not so surprising that situations like that over time would crystallize into cultural over-reaction of similar matters.

Re:Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[unlametheweak]

...but pornography doesn't make a culture intelligent or better than another culture...

Perhaps I should elaborate. When I said pornography is a signpost of "Civilization", I meant that if you can't find any, then chances are you are living in a repressive regime, culture, etc. because it will abound where there are not laws to suppress it. Yes porn doesn't necessarily enlighten the intellect, but it will be easily available where it is not actively suppressed. And so too, I am relating the fact that societies that tend to suppress pornography also tend to be more authoritarian in other respects as well. Saudi Arabia for example, is a very repressive place to live exclusive of pornography regulations.

Re:Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[cmseagle]

No, filtering and the hijab are not the same at all. The hijab is a something which many women freely choose to wear because of their religious and cultural beliefs. The fact that some women are forced to wear the hijab does not make it analogous to filtering.

Re:Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[Anonymous Coward]

Dual-mindedness is a very human trait. Why do we lie when we know the truth? Why do we cover up what is shameful to us? Human psychology is funny like that.

Is it funny? It seems pretty straight-forward, to me. Self-control is necessary for a functioning society. Exerting self-control is far more difficult when tempted. Thus, some people may seek to ban temptations to help themselves (and, secondarily, their societies) maintain self-control. Attempts to ban "pornography" are one example of this.

Societies more accepting of pornography could, indeed, be considered "more intelligent," if the reason they're more accepting is that they have more self-control (a triumph of intelligence over instinct).

Re:Filtering is the Hijab of the Internet

[ScrewMaster]

how does one 'lump' pornography? - no wait, on second thought....

You don't. What the GP is saying, I believe, is that civilization has to get over the hump of worrying so much about it.

New name suggestion?

[427_ci_505]

Google Suggestive.

Re:New name suggestion?

[Trip6]

Me suggest you long time

Who you know

[PineHall]

The story on the chinaSMACK site demonstrates that Chinese search engine Baidu features a comparable search-suggestion function, which similarly recommends adult-themed sites, but that the government has not attacked Baidu over the issue of porn.

China was a rule by decree country. Who you know is very important in China. Laws are considered by many Chinese to by somewhat flexible if you know the right person. Laws are administered at the local and provincial levels of government. This means consistency in law enforcement is lacking.

Re:Who you know

[Celeste R]

Fighting their culture would serve mostly to alienate us from them. However, politeness and kind words often go farther to allow relations to happen.

Kindly saying "we'll turn this off if everyone else does too" wouldn't be such a terrible PR thing to do (in Chinese eyes), right?

Consumers are not that dumb.

[reporter]

Even if Beijing required every computer to be installed with filtering software, the typical consumer can just take his pirated copy of Windows XP and use it to do a fresh installation of the operating system, creating a clean, blank slate without any censoring software. China is, after all, the software piracy capital of the world. If a Chinese customer has the intellect to overcome various anti-piracy mechanisms and to rip DVDs, then he surely has the intellect to install a fresh copy of Windows XP.

Given the user friendliness of the Windows installer, installing Windows XP should be quite easy.

Re:Consumers are not that dumb.

[supernova_hq]

So it's ok to monitor and sensor the ignorant?

Accurate?

[supernova_hq]

My guess is that if google is suggesting porn, then it is probably for a reason...

Sir! Sir! I type "hot naked" into google and it suggested girls! We must stop this monstrosity!!!!

Unusual circuitry

[oldhack]

Every now and then I see posts like yours, and can't help thinking "another lunatic with wierd-ass thought process like mine".

Damn!

[Dr.Fujitronic]

From TFS : all new computers ship with the 'Green Damn' Internet censoring program. Is that a typo or the reaction of Chinese men, when they discover, that they can't surf porn anymore?

simple

[binaryseraph]

Google should disable the internet in china.

it's google.cn, not google.com

[suzerain]

Just a point of clarification that this applies to google.cn, and obviously does not apply to google.com, which those of us in Beijing can also see.

My favorite Google Suggest search terms

[MillionthMonkey]

why is everything

Try typing that in.

Re:My favorite Google Suggest search terms

[Jesus_666]

I like that when you typi in "why is" the first suggestion is "why is the rum gone". Apparently this is a very pressing issue in the English-speaking world.

Re:My favorite Google Suggest search terms

[MillionthMonkey]

Well that's a song in Pirates of the Caribbean... If you extend it to "why is your", apparently a lot of people are seeing funny colors before they flush.

What I don't understand

[nightfire-unique]

What I don't understand is why anyone would want to ban sex related sites in the absence of religion.

You would think that of all nations, China would be encouraging as much private sexual release as possible given their male:female ratio and large population. Honestly; I am baffled.

Green Dam is not mandarory to run

[trendzetter]

The software is required to be delivered with by manufacturers on harddisc or one CD. It was never intended to be required to run as a user [wikipedia.org]. The scope of the software is mainly parental control. This hole thing in the media about censorshipware sounds like yet another propaganda campagne by the West.

Re:Green Dam is not mandarory to run

[Jeremy Erwin]

Parental control? Does the state act in loco parentis?

Funny

[ThatsNotPudding]

Funny how every repressive regime from the extremely non-religous to the extremely religous are obsessed with contolling their captors' sexuality.

baidu..Chinese Porn

[Obd1Kenobe]

Has anyone considered that they have not pressured the baidu search engine because it points to CHINESE porn sites and doesn't display sex acts by these barbarian round eyed animals like Google does??