The New York Times has delivered a fine piece of reporting about Google's operation in China and the nature of Chinese censorship of the Web. The lengthy article is scheduled to appear in the
Times Magazine on Sunday, but is also available now on the site. The story covers everything from the history of Google's involvement there, its reasons for opening business within China's
borders, to China's mysteriously effective hands-off approach to censoring the Web, citizens' reaction to that censorship, as well as the operations of other U.S. Internet firms in China. It also
discusses how exactly the so-called "Great Firewall" works, and how the Internet is fostering a new generation of free thinkers and speakers in the Communist country. One of the most interesting
aspects of the report is the way in which the Chinese government encourages self-censorship by these Web firms by not publishing a blacklist of terms and topics deemed inappropriate. Instead, it keeps
Web companies guessing, shutting them down only once they've crossed the line. Interestingly, there doesn't appear to be a backlash in China to Google's decision to do business there at all. Instead,
most view Yahoo, which has aided the government in finding political dissidents, with contempt for its over-eager compliance with the government.
Read the whole story at New York Times »
