Google China dedicated site is shut down and millions of users are redirected to uncensored Hong Kong version
Caroline Davies
Google has stopped censoring its site in China and is redirecting millions of users to an uncensored site via its servers in Hong Kong.
The move follows sophisticated cyber attacks originating in China that Google believes targeted human rights activists connected to the country. In an announcement on its official blog, the chief legal officer of the internet search engine, David Drummond, said: "These attacks and the surveillance they uncovered – combined with attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger – had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn.
"So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services – Google Search, Google News and Google Images – on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong.
" Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service, also from Google.com.hk".
Nearly 340 million Chinese people are regularly online, compared with 10 million a decade ago.
Google launched its Chinese site in 2006, agreeing to some censorshipof the search results, as required by the Chinese government. The move led to accusations it had betrayed its company motto, "Don't be evil". The company argued it would be more damaging for civil liberties if it pulled out of China altogether.
Google holds about a third of the Chinese search market, second to the Chinese search engine Baidu, with more than 60%.
The Guardian
