Opinion | Google and the Great Internet Wall of China

Even if Google finds a way around China’s internet censorship, its Project Dragonfly is certain to fly into a sticky search engine ecosystem in that country

At the outset, let me make clear that I am not a proponent of barriers to trade. Neither am I supportive of muzzling free speech. With that said, I would like to dwell today on how China’s government has been successful in giving its home-grown internet giants a stranglehold on the domestic market by using censorship as a trade barrier.

Last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told the Wired 25 conference that his company had been testing a version of its search engine named “Project Dragonfly” that would pass muster with China’s censors. Pichai said he was excited about the result of the tests; he reported that the censored version would still serve over 99% of queries. Pichai made quite clear that the internet giant intended to go after the Chinese market.

Earlier statements from Google executives, in response to leaks to the press, were that the work on Project Dragonfly had been “exploratory”, “in early stages” and that Google was “not close to launching a search product in China”. Pichai’s presentation last week confirmed otherwise.

The leaks had led to protests, even within Google. Fourteen hundred Google employees signed a petition demanding more transparency about the project and employee input into the decision. Human rights groups including Amnesty International sent an open letter to Google’s management seeking clarification. 

In early October, US vice-president Mike Pence warned that Project Dragonfly, if released, would both strengthen censorship in China as well as compromise the privacy of Chinese customers. Pence should probably also have dwelled on the privacy of customers from the US, but that’s a discussion for a different day.

On a side note, during the second quarter of this year, Google’s famed motto “don’t be evil” was removed from the preface of its code of conduct and relegated to the last line.

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