Microsoft and Chinese Censorship

[n2doc]

By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
A couple of days ago, I heard that the new Microsoft search engine, Bing, censors results in Chinese-language searches, even if they are conducted outside China. With the help of a coterie of Chinese friends around the globe, I tested this and found it’s true.

For example, if you use Bing to search in English for Tiananmen, Dalai Lama, or other sensitive topics, you get a full range of results, including those that are politically sensitive in China. Tiananmen, for example, calls up images of the June 4, 1989, killings. The same is true if you search the same topics in traditional Chinese characters, fantizi.

But if you do the same searches in simplified Chinese characters, those used in mainland China, in Singapore, and increasingly among students of Chinese, then the results are censored and sanitized. Search for Tiananmen in simplified Chinese characters, for example, and you get nice pictures of Tiananmen Square, but no hint of any killings. And that’s true not only if you do the search within China, but also if you do the search here in the United States, or in Taiwan or Hong Kong.

This self-censorship goes far beyond what Google did. Google’s policy is to offer uncensored results anywhere in the world in Chinese language on Google.com, but it censors the results (anywhere in the world) on google.cn. Thus Chinese who want to get full results can do their search on Google.com. But if it’s blocked, they may have to use Freegate or other proxy software. Google’s approach is a compromise, but one I can understand and accept. In contrast, Microsoft’s approach of censoring all searches using simplified characters would be disgraceful and can’t be justified.

more:

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/microsoft-and-chinese-censorship/

[FreakinDJ]

1. I think its BS

All they do is limit it on the Servers

Yahoo, Goggle, all of them have servers in China - remember Intel and Cisco opened huge factories there. So why would you go writing all that code into your new search engine when the function could be performed mush easier at the server level.

Sounds more like a rumor started by some one at goggle

(on edit)

also on goggle you can limit the results to a paticular goggle server by first going to that servers IP addy. You don't need a proxy server or additional software.

Sorry to be so negative.

[Deja Q]

2. Intel has started a lot of factories in the USA too, state of the art 32nm processing plants.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3513&cp=5

Don't bother with user comments; half of them clearly failed first grade English...

[FreakinDJ]

3. Good friend of mine works for Intel - DRAM R&D

Plants making DRAM are China Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and California

Oh wait California is really the R&D facility

But yes the investment is a welcome sight. They have been having lots of problems with their foriegn facilities. On top of corrupt politicians demanding handouts, and terrorist kidnapping exectutives. They have to maintain their own power generation facilities, water treatment facilities, communication infastructure, security details (for the plant and it's shipments) and a huge office of duty agents for shipments coming in and out of the facility.