Commenting publicly for the first time about Google’s censored search engine for China, CEO Sundar Pichai said onstage at the WIRED 25 summit in San Francisco that the company is taking “a longer-term view” about the country. Codenamed Project Dragonfly, the controversial development has been public knowledge since a report in August by the Intercept, […]
View More Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks publicly for the first time about its censored China search engineCategory: Censorship
Rejected journalist visa sparks press freedom fears in Hong Kong
There’s concern for the freedom of the press in Hong Kong after the government declined to renew the visa of a veteran Financial Times’ editor, dealing an alarming blow to the country’s thriving journalism community. Victor Mallet, the FT’s Asia news editor who is also vice-president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, is effectively being expelled after he was […]
View More Rejected journalist visa sparks press freedom fears in Hong KongGoogle back in court arguing against a global ‘right to be forgotten’
Google’s lawyers are in Europe’s top court today arguing against applying the region’s so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling globally domains, rather only geo-limiting delistings to European sub-domains (as it does now). The original rtbf ruling was also a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision. Back in 2014 the court ruled search engines must respect Europeans’ privacy […]
View More Google back in court arguing against a global ‘right to be forgotten’Myanmar jails Reuters reporters who uncovered military atrocity
Reporting the news isn’t illegal, unless you’re in Myanmar. The Southeast Asian country this week sentenced two reporters from Reuters to seven years in jail in response to an investigative report that uncovered atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims by the army. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the two Reuters staffers, have been in custody since […]
View More Myanmar jails Reuters reporters who uncovered military atrocityWickr teams up with Psiphon to ensure your packets arrive safely no matter where you are
Encrypted collaboration app Wickr has added a feather to its cap with a partnership with Psiphon, provider of smart VPN tools. Wickr will use Psiphon’s tech to guarantee your packets get where they need to go regardless of whether you’re at home, at a cafe with bad wi-fi, or at a cafe with bad wi-fi in China.
View More Wickr teams up with Psiphon to ensure your packets arrive safely no matter where you areGoogle’s secret China censorship project shares a name with Sergey Brin’s mega-yacht
Well, this is awkward.
As Google employees continue to protest their company’s no-longer secret plan to launch a censored version of its search engine in China, one little detail seems to have gone largely unremarked. Namely, that the project s…
Some Infowars tweets vanished today, but Twitter didn’t remove them
A handful of tweets and videos that appear to have been cited in the choice to remove Alex Jones from Facebook and YouTube vanished from Twitter on Thursday after being called out in a CNN piece focused on the company’s hypocrisy. Twitter confirmed to TechCrunch that it did not remove the tweets in question and […]
View More Some Infowars tweets vanished today, but Twitter didn’t remove themGoogle never really left China: a look at the Chinese website Google’s been quietly running
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More information is leaking out about just how Google is planning to re-enter the Chinese market with a mobile search engine application that complies to the country’s censorship laws.
The Intercept first broke this story when a whistleblower provided them documentation detailing the secret censored search project (codenamed Dragonfly). According to them, an overlooked Google acquisition from 2008 — 265.com — has been quietly laying down the foundation for the endeavor.
Back in June of 2008, Google acquired the Chinese website 265.com, which Chinese internet entrepreneur Cai Wensheng, known as “King of the Webmasters,” founded in 2003. Cai is the current chairman and founder of the company behind the popular selfie app Meitu. As an early domain name investor, Cai “found it frustrating to have to type domain names in English,” according to a 2010 Wall Street Journal profile. So he set up what amounts to an early-internet web directory, or daohang — which roughly translates to navigation — as they’re known in China. His internet portal, 265.com, which provided Chinese internet users with a list of popular website links right on its homepage, was an instant success. Read more…
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View More Google never really left China: a look at the Chinese website Google’s been quietly running‘Christopher Robin’ release denied in China, possibly because Pooh looks like Xi Jinping
Winnie the Pooh may be a lovable star of the big screen, but that’s not stopping China from being petty as hell.
China’s film authorities have denied a release to the new live action Winnie the Pooh movie, Christopher Robin, according to The Hollywoo…
Google is developing a censored news app for China
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Google’s recently leaked plans to re-enter the Chinese market doesn’t end with a mobile search engine app. The company is also getting into the (censored) news business.
The Information reports that a news-aggregation app for China, which would be government censor-friendly, is under development at Google. Three sources told The Information that development of this news app began late last year and meetings with Chinese regulators to discuss the app have already been underway.
The Google news app for China would be powered by artificial intelligence, not human editors, and would provide content customized to each user. The Google app is said to closely resemble popular Chinese news reader app Toutiao, which currently has 120 million daily users. There are over 700 million mobile internet users in China. Read more…
More about News, Google, China, Censorship, and Censorship China
View More Google is developing a censored news app for ChinaActivists push back on Facebook’s decision to remove a DC protest event
A number of activists and organizers in the Washington DC area are disputing Facebook’s decision to remove a counter-protest event against a rally organized by Jason Kessler, the white nationalist figure who planned the deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Facebook removed the event, “No Unite the Right 2-DC,” after discovering that one account connected to […]
View More Activists push back on Facebook’s decision to remove a DC protest eventLeaked document shows Google’s plans for its censored search engine in China
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Recently, Google removed its long-time unofficial motto, “don’t be evil,” from its corporate code of conduct. If you need an understanding as to why they’d make such an update, here’s the perfect example.
The Intercept is reporting that the company is readying a censored version of its search engine in a custom Android app to launch in China.
To comply with the Chinese government’s strict internet censorship laws, Google’s China-only search engine app would block websites and search terms about human rights, peaceful protests, political dissidents, democracy, police brutality, religion, and more. Read more…
More about Google, China, Censorship, Search Engine, and Censorship China
View More Leaked document shows Google’s plans for its censored search engine in China