Google threatens to pull out of China
Now that Google has announced that it no longer intends to comply with Chinese censorship, other international corporations may follow suit. The search engine giant would even be willing to withdraw completely from China if the authorities refuse to accept an end to censorship on Google.cn.
As the Chinese censorship policy has so far also been supported by various other Western companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo, the question now arises as to whether they will also make a similar U-turn. "As a matter of principle, we do not comment on steps taken by competitors," says Microsoft spokesperson Thomas Lutz when asked by Pressetext. Furthermore, the company currently has nothing to announce regarding China and censorship measures. "However, we have already commented on the topic in general and are trying to strike a kind of balance in China between the rights and privacy of individuals and the fact that China is a free, independent country with its own laws," says Lutz.
Yahoo is also unwilling to comment on the specific steps taken by Google. However, the company is committed to protecting human rights, privacy and security, it told Pressetext. "We condemn any attempts to infiltrate corporate networks and thereby obtain user information," Yahoo said in its statement. The company agrees with Google that such attacks are extremely worrying. "We firmly believe that breaches of user privacy are something that all Internet pioneers must stand up against."
Larger market shares for competitors
If Google were indeed to completely abandon China, this would in any case offer competitors such as Microsoft and Yahoo the opportunity to gain large shares of a huge market - provided they maintain their censorship in accordance with the wishes of the authorities. At the same time, however, such behavior would also damage the image of companies outside China and possibly have a negative impact on market shares elsewhere.
Google's announcement was apparently triggered by massive hacker attacks from China as well as the theft of program information and the increasing restrictions on freedom of expression in the country. As the Wall Street Journal reports, some of the source codes were stolen in the hacker attacks, which could potentially be used to access other data.
Yahoo is also unwilling to comment on the specific steps taken by Google. However, the company is committed to protecting human rights, privacy and security, it told Pressetext. "We condemn any attempts to infiltrate corporate networks and thereby obtain user information," Yahoo said in its statement. The company agrees with Google that such attacks are extremely worrying. "We firmly believe that breaches of user privacy are something that all Internet pioneers must stand up against."
Larger market shares for competitors
If Google were indeed to completely abandon China, this would in any case offer competitors such as Microsoft and Yahoo the opportunity to gain large shares of a huge market - provided they maintain their censorship in accordance with the wishes of the authorities. At the same time, however, such behavior would also damage the image of companies outside China and possibly have a negative impact on market shares elsewhere.
Google's announcement was apparently triggered by massive hacker attacks from China as well as the theft of program information and the increasing restrictions on freedom of expression in the country. As the Wall Street Journal reports, some of the source codes were stolen in the hacker attacks, which could potentially be used to access other data.
