Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
Scores of angry Tibetans on Tuesday protested Google's launch of a censored version of its search engine in China which adheres to that country's government restrictions on free speech. The protesters assembled in the central square of Dharmsala, the northern Indian headquarters of the exiled Tibetan government, carrying placards reading "Google, Don't be Evil," and "Gulag, Censoring Search by Search." The protesters also sent out 30,000 e-mails to people across the world urging them not to access Google on Tuesday
Related:
[technology.guardian.co.uk...]
Pirates and bloggers beat China's great wall of propaganda
Following Google's decision last month to censor search results in China, much has been written about the country's restrictions on "socially unhealthy" content and its sophisticated control techniques. Yet, government censors have told the Guardian they are no longer capable of blocking all sensitive information, so they must work harder to guide its course and respond to public opinion, particularly via the internet.
google is taking unfair advantage of liberties in democratic world for its commercial gain.
and being part of democracy, we can do nothing to stop google from doing such thing. just wishing google to shift its headquarter to china and then try to take decisions against communist policies ...... try it google try it .......Larry Page would be hanged.
John
Since the decision I've banned users from China from accessing some of my websites with informative educational and medical information.
that is unfair to people of china, chineses govt and chinese public are 2 different sets. govt is privileged class and public is suppressed class. the best way to oppose this may be by giving links to dalai lama / tibet related sites and pasting a banner against this decision of google on our sites.
any one ready to volunteer to design a hard hitting? banner
I don't subscribe to any political parties or groups but it does not seem "People's Republic of China" does not really stand for the people if they fear free speech in the form of the internet.
Perhaps the Chinese authorities have had enough of Western propaganda and lies about their system?
"Free speech" is all well and good, but what you may find is it equates to unrestricted, misleading, advertising by global corporations for their won profitable ends.
Matt
Have you seen what they do to religious groups like Falun Gong? There's photos of this stuff all over Hong Kong. It's not even close to a little "pursuasive advertising"...
Just my opinion.
Why the Government of China is against people getting physically and mentally fit, is beyond me.
Why the Government of China is against people getting physically and mentally fit, is beyond me.
Now We Can Say Google is Purely Money Machine.
It seems people requires Google but Google Needs Only Money from people.
I bet you'd roll around in the mud if the Chinese government was going to give you a big wad of $$$
Any in the S&P 500?
I am not saying there aren't any - just want to know who it is - they are.
Any company in China must follow chinese law.
Every company that deals with news, data, telecommunication, or search MUST censor. It is the law.
If they do not do business in China - then they will not be there when China turns around.
I wonder what the majority of CHINESE want. I bet they would want Google there. They know the situation - most Chinese (at least from my understanding) don't think the situation will last forever.
Google is no different than any other Search Engine in China. There is an army of what some suspect is like 30,000 according to what I read -- of government agents - akin to our NSA intercepting and quashing text messages, forums, blogs, and what not.
You want to be seen in China - you play by their rules.
Google is not alone.
I didn't realise about the Google boycott in time either, so I shall pause the Adwords account for a day instead and let them know why.
>that is unfair to people of china, chineses govt and chinese public are 2 different sets. govt is privileged class and public is suppressed class.
Thats what people used to say about South Africa.
Name one major US company that does not do business in China for political reasons?
I don't agree with censorship, as a rule. I'm not going to point at Google with any particular finger over this move. It's very clear that they see a future in China, and they are positioning themselves for that future. It's a business decision, one that unfortunately carries extra baggage. If I could follow suit with my product I would.
After some research, I found that the page was not blocked, although many pages of the UGA were.
During my research, I noticed that thousands of USA sites are actively filtered/blocked by China many of which are educational (university) sites.
There is a site that is dedicated to evaluating and investigating such possible blocks:
[cyber.law.harvard.edu...]
They maintain a huge list of websites/pages currently blocked by China, and they offer free services to inspect potential blocks.
It is too sad that G joined the China government by helping them to filter out more sites.
Falun Gong is not a religion. Its a form of exercise (physical and mental).Why the Government of China is against people getting physically and mentally fit, is beyond me.
Because you know little about fa lun gong. Fa lun gong is a cult. Shall I remind you the fact of Branch Davidian?
They are not helping the Chinese government supress free speech. They are victims of said supression.
Their other option was to withdraw their efforts in China completely which just doesn't make sense. Instead they will go along with things until they change, which may not be long.
Google has made a huge number of concessions to the US's own laws about the internet, no one was breaking out the torches then?
Gee, and I thought we weren't supposed to discuss politics here. If that rule has changed, I'd like to post some thoughts on George Bush. :-)
Does nobody find it slightly strange that the ones making the most noise about the Censorship are in or from the West and who have probably never even set foot in the country for any length of time if at all?
This whole thing is purely because the West wants access to China, and the minds of its citizens, the next major Super Power.
As with Africa, we have learnt that unless there is something to be gained (ie oil) then it is all too easy to look the other way.
Whose propaganda is G censoring anyway.
Because you know little about fa lun gong. Fa lun gong is a cult. Shall I remind you the fact of Branch Davidian?
I have studied cults(psychology) and what they are all about for a period of over a year.
I have also studied Falun Gong Teachings for two years.
There are no similarities whatsoever between Falun Gong Teachings and Branch Davidians.
On the contrary.Falun Gong practitioners are the most kind and openhearted life - loving people i ever met.
Google the word "cult".You will find a set of definitions.None of them match Falun Gong.
Yahoo and Google have illustrated with China that clearly this game is about money not ethics or morals.
It always was.
I have always felt their is only one type of SEO, that which works. Everything else at best was just PR or at worst propaganda.
Whats a cult anyway? A small band of people who believe in something you dissapprove of? In that case theres a nasty cult downstairs from me believes playing REM all day at full volume is a good idea.
Google, by the way are always tinkering about making social judgements when it suits them. I'm particularly annoyed by their alcohol policy. The working class drinks like beer and whiskey are verboten in Adwords, but let me hazard a guess here and say they are a lot of wine drinkers in the Googleborgplex?
Just because theres a wad of cash to be made kowtowing to the Chinese regime doesn't make what Google has done OK, and what Yahoo did with that journalist is beyond belief!
Anyone who doesn't like it can vote with their wallet like I did, to the extent they can afford. When elected politicians spout worthy sentiments, then go behaving like middle management for the big corporations, denying their bosses your business then letting them know why is a fine way to bring about social change. And why shouldn't we tinker in politics? Google and Yahoo do.
It is also a cult
1. it tells people to believe in Falun's superpower, saying that if you believe it, you do not need see doctor when you are sick (borrowed from bible that Jesus can cure people with his touch)
2. It claimes it is higher than Muslim and Christian, claiming mohamad is his subset.
3. The Muslim world does not recognize it as a legal religion. They must some have some reasons.
4. They Falun followers worship its leader Li, just as workship Jesus. Trying to glorify him as God and Superhuman.
and recite his book like Bible.
Do not confuse Falun with Qigong, QiGong has been in China for many hundreds years if not thousands, and people have been practice QiGong since old times.
Falun is borrowing most of its practice from QiGong and can be classified as a branch of QiGong, if without its religion color.
So you see, not allowing Falun, does not mean not allowing QiGong. Millions of people in China still pratice QiGong, especially the elders, you can see them practice everywhere, in the park, home, playfield...and QiGong is good for health.
To summarize, Falun is a mixture of QiGong with Religion (borrowed from Christian or Muslim). It is indeed good at pointing out China's current political system (one party dictateship). and it may help make China become more demacratic. But it is also behind just an exercise. It is cult, It is religion. and It is some Politics. It is more complicated than regular people think.
After I found out how easily people in China circumvent this censorship, I thought this was a tempest in a teapot.
In the US, of course, we have no censorship, which is why we can feel so free to look down on China and the rest of the world and give them what for. That's why the press can show any pictures and tell any stories whatsoever they want about the war in Iraq instead of having to be embedded, better known as caving to military censorship. Oh, wait--we DO have censorship here, but it's okay. I mean, the whole thing about the military having the right to prevent any reportage about Iraq they feel like is just about protecting our troops. Just because the press was able to say whatever they wanted during Vietnam doesn't mean they should do that now. I mean, if they could write or show whatever, people might be even more against the war than they already are, and our government wouldn't like that. Freedom of speech can only go so far. Sometimes censorship is good. It is if our guys do it, anyway, but not if Google or China does it.
Gee, maybe the NSA can teach the Chinese how to close up those gaps in their firewall, eh?
I was told that the number of Falun Gong practitioners
has reached 100,000,000.This surpasses the number of members of the Communist party.This fact has the Communist Party very worried....and very jealous....
They decided thus to exterminate Falun Gong.
I was told that the number of Falun Gong practitioners has reached 100,000,000.This surpasses the number of members of the Communist party.This fact has the Communist Party very worried....and very jealous....
That's because the Communist Party in China, althougth they control the government, they no longer control the hearts and minds of its citizen's.
And while we are on politics, yes I do wish that DC would take GB hunting more often :)
