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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGoogle's secret 'Dragonfly' project is a major threat to human rights
"This has much wider implications for Google, and for human rights online more generally."
CASEY MICHEL
DEC 11, 2018, 8:00 AM
For years, Google has acted as the model of a Big Tech company with an ethical backbone. Much of that reputation stems from the companys 2010 decision to leave China entirely, a move Google attributed to its desire to no longer continue censoring our results in the face of Chinese government pressure.
Over the past few months, however, Googles moral standing has plummeted. Thanks to a series of insider leaks and investigations, coupled with concerted pressure from human rights groups, Googles plans to quietly return to China and aid the Chinese governments unprecedented censorship regime are no longer secret.
Googles Dragonfly project is a new search engine one the company claims is only in its earliest stages that would censor information at the behest of the Chinese government. Dragonfly would not only allow Chinese authorities to prevent citizens from learning about issues like human rights, but it would also, according to one Google employee who resigned in protest, even block access to accurate air quality data.
The development of Dragonfly comes as the Chinese government continues building the worlds largest system of concentration camps globally, disappearing and detaining at least one million Muslims across the countrys western region of Xinjiang. The camps are the latest in the Chinese Communist Partys lengthy list of human rights abuses, from becoming the global leader in executions to cracking down on Christians to widespread organ harvesting.
https://thinkprogress.org/google-dragonfly-china-censorship-human-rights-fe1fe1ddf55a/
secondwind
(16,903 posts)backscatter712
(26,355 posts)DuckDuckGo is the only search engine Ive used for several years, and its great.
Maru Kitteh
(28,340 posts)turbinetree
(24,701 posts)I really do not want to use a platform..................that basically condones what is happening in China.................all it does is make them more powerful in there plans.....................Google knows better, and they should have some principles...................you can only turn a blind eye for so long................
BSdetect
(8,998 posts)You simply cannot depend on corporations to uphold human rights
klook
(12,155 posts)Oh, wait - with Google, were the product.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)&f=1