Google’s Brin offers no hint at China resolution
Friday, February 12, 2010 17:48As the world waits for Google’s decision on what it intends to do in China, one of the company’s co-founders said censorship requirements in that country grew worse after the 2008 Olympics.
Google’s Sergey Brin said Friday that while the flow of information had loosened in China following Google’s initial entry into the country, “things took a turn for the worse” following the Olympics, with more and more sites getting blocked, according to a transcript of his remarks posted by Search Engine Land. Google continues to comply with those laws, but has forced a showdown with the Chinese government after declaring it no longer wants to offer an uncensored search engine in China.
That statement came after Google and over 30 other U.S. companies were attacked by cybercriminals believed to be working on behalf of the Chinese government. Google has not confirmed that, and Brin declined to do so directly again on Friday, but came as close to doing that as any Googler has yet in opining that elements of the government may be involved.
“I don’t actually think the question of whether this is the Chinese government is that important,” Brin said. “I think that the Chinese government has tens of millions of people in it. If you look at the army, the associated army and whatnot, that’s larger than most countries by far. So even if there were a Chinese government agent behind it, you know, it might represent a fragment of policy as it were,” according to the transcript.
Brin offered no timetable for resolution of the dispute between his company and the Chinese government, which is now a month old. He did say that he thinks it’s eventually possible that China will change its tune on political censorship and allow Google to stay in the country with an uncensored search engine.
