What Will Google Do in China?

Recently, students in my Media & Society class talked about the challenges Google faces in China: namely, subjecting the Google search function to censors in exchange for access to a huge online market.

Now that it appears Chinese authorities are tracking down activists by monitoring Google searches, the company is re-evaluating its business in China and whether is goes against the company credo: "Don't be evil."

Jeff Jarvis, author of one of our class textbooks ("What Would Google Do?"), updated the company's status in China after an interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Here's an excerpt from Jarvis' latest post on BuzzMachine:

“We made a decision that was consistent with our values,” Schmidt said. “We’re not going to operate differently in China as opposed to the rest of the world,” said (David) Drummond.

When is Gooogle going to do something? “It should happen soon,” Drummond said.

Was Google’s original stance on China — making it an exception to its own rules — a mistake? “We said consistently we would evaluate the position,” said Schmidt, “and people didn’t believe us.”

On the attacks, Schmidt said the company had a moral need to “make sure our systems are safe from attack anywhere.”

Check out the rest of Jarvis' post, which also covers transparency in Google advertising, hassles in Europe, as well as Android and the company's phone strategy.

-rp-

See also:
Google reconsiders China policy