The media orgy surrounding U.S. Internet companies, online freedom of speech and China has got noted search expert John Battelle thinking. On the one hand, he says, it's ridiculous to leave it to
private companies to set national and international policy. But what if Google, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo and Cisco all banded together and presented a united front to the Chinese government requesting
that it respect the rights to free speech and free association, or else they would walk away from China altogether? What if, indeed. As Battelle says, you can't get these fiercely competitive
companies to agree on a single IM platform, let alone ask them to unite against the most populous nation in the world. Not only that, but what about companies like Wal-Mart and Nike, which have their
products made in China so we can buy them at much cheaper prices? What's the difference between letting them carry on their business in China and leaving the Web companies alone to do theirs? Even so,
he says, it would be foolish to assume a pact by the Internet companies to allow information to flow freely in China would ultimately change things there anyway. At the end of the day, it comes down
to the ( U.S.) President. He needs to make global human rights enough of a priority to take a stand against China in its censorship of information. Otherwise, the government should just leave Web
companies alone to make their money in China so they can reinvest it into bigger and better things we'll all enjoy in the future.
Read the whole story at John Battelle's Search Blog »