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Google Workers Sign Letter Seeking End To China Search Project (bloomberg.com)
A group of Google employees have put their name to a public letter calling on the company to abandon its plans for a Chinese search product that censors results. From a report: Project Dragonfly, as the initiative is known, would enable state surveillance at a time when the Chinese government is expanding controls over the population, according to the letter signed by at least 10 workers, predominately software engineers and researchers. The document also called on management to commit to transparency, be accountable and provide clear communication.
Ever since plans for Dragonfly emerged in August, Google parent Alphabet has been riven by internal dissent at the prospect of a search engine bending to Beijing's censorship. It was that sort of government control that prompted co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to effectively pull out of China in 2010 when it decided to stop removing controversial links from web queries. "We refuse to build technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable, wherever they may be," the Google workers wrote in the letter. "Dragonfly in China would establish a dangerous precedent, one that would make it harder for Google to deny other countries similar concessions."
Ever since plans for Dragonfly emerged in August, Google parent Alphabet has been riven by internal dissent at the prospect of a search engine bending to Beijing's censorship. It was that sort of government control that prompted co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to effectively pull out of China in 2010 when it decided to stop removing controversial links from web queries. "We refuse to build technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable, wherever they may be," the Google workers wrote in the letter. "Dragonfly in China would establish a dangerous precedent, one that would make it harder for Google to deny other countries similar concessions."
Good thing they are at will workers. If they lack the will to help google succeed, then google should have no will to pay them. Ignoring china just means Baidu or Ten-cent gets first dibs. Doesn't change anything excpet google's influence on china. It's better for china to have google, crippled or not, than only local providers. Can't push back or stretch boundaries if you are not in the game.
Of course it's reprehensible to have to curtail freedoms from the point of view of the google employees. So they are right to protest too. They can take their principles to someone else not interested in chinese market expansion. Google can hire some employees in china. Everybody is happy.
The interesting thing to keep an eye out for is whether they will have the balls to resign when they realize that Google only cares about social issues as long as it's good for the bottom line.
I'm sure a letter will have the execs quaking in their boots.
I wonder if for some of these people, this is the first time that whining has not worked for them. It must be quite a shock.
(And I say that as someone who thinks that building a censored search for Chinese communists is evil as all get out.)
Exactly this.
You need to pretty much conclude that once Google does this for China, they are going to have to roll over and do it for every fucking government.
Google participating in any form in any type of government censorship or surveillance pretty much establishes them as a company who will do anything for a buck, and who have long since given up on any fiction of their founding principal of 'do no evil'.
Google has no credibility for anything in terms of keeping out government intrusion if the proceed with this. They're just straight up greedy and indifferent to any harm they might cause. And you have to assume they'll lie in public about what they're doing because governments will forbid them to discuss it.
Every piss-pot dictator (including Trump) will have their fingers in that pie, and Google will be an active participant in the evil of various governments around the world.
If Google is going to choose to become part of the surveillance state to chase profits, then they pretty much lose all credibility as anything but a company who will roll over for any government as long as there is money to be had.
Which makes Google truly evil -- Like IBM working with the Nazis to catalog Jews kind of evil.
At least one of the signers, Colm Buckley, is fully in favor of implementing censorship right here in the good olâ(TM) USA. Not kidding, search him up.