Google accused of 'chilling' complicity in China after plans to launch censored search engine leak
Google is launching a censored version of its search engine in China that will block access to sites including the BBC.
The internet giant will block access to sites banned by the country's ruling communist party, including Wikipedia and BBC News, according to leaked internal documents seen by The Intercept.
Sites and search terms about human rights, democracy and religion will also be blacklisted.
Campaign groups have criticised Google for hypocrisy and assisting oppression, arguing the move sets a dangerous precedent for other large organisations.
Google, however, is desperate to crack the lucrative Chinese market of 750m web users who could provide billions in revenue.
The Chinese search engine project, code-named Dragonfly, has been in development since last spring and could launch within six to nine months, according to the leaked documents.
Google's Chinese search engine | What we know so far
Work began speeding up on the project in December following a secret meeting between Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and Chinese foreign policy advisor Wang Huning. Google engineers have already created a custom Android app, with different versions nicknamed "Maotai" and "Longfei".
Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said that Google's decision was "absolutely chilling".
"Google is supposed to be a gateway to free information, not a gatekeeper," Mrs Carlo said. "To see a tech giant and government collude to oppress a population is a watershed moment for the digital age. Google's alarming willingness to bend to the will of the world's most censorious government serves as a wake up call to us all."
Google shut its original Chinese search engine down in 2010 following a series of cyberattacks by the Chinese government which were aimed at human rights activists in the country and elsewhere.
The company claimed that Chinese hackers had attempted to break into the Gmail accounts of activists and read their emails, a move which angered Google so much that it shut down its Chinese search engine and allowed people to access uncensored information for several months.
Google China analysis puff
Sergey Brin, Google’s cofounder who was raised in the Soviet Union until he was almost six years old, said that “our objection is to those forces of totalitarianism” in China.
For several months, Google redirected people in mainland China to Google’s Hong Kong search engine, which didn’t filter results. And since then, Google has publicly opposed China’s internet censorship.
Eric Schmidt, then Google’s executive chairman, said in 2013 that China was “the most egregious example” of a country attempting to control the internet.
But that position has softened in recent years. In January, the search engine joined an investment in Chinese live-stream mobile game platform Chushou, and earlier this month, launched a doodle game on Tencent's social media app WeChat.
Sundar Pichai profile
Google’s decision to comply with the Chinese government’s censorship will be controversial inside the business. The news of the app only emerged after an employee leaked confidential documents to The Intercept, meaning that there are already signs of dissent inside Google.
Jodie Ginsberg, who is chief executive of campaigns group Index on Censorship, said: “We’re appalled that Google, which has repeatedly stressed its commitment to freedom of expression, should effectively collude with one of the world’s most oppressive regimes in this way.
A Google spokesman said: “We provide a number of mobile apps in China, such as Google Translate and Files Go, help Chinese developers, and have made significant investments in Chinese companies like JD.com.
“But we don’t comment on speculation about future plans.”
