Google "intends to return to China"

It is reported that Google plans to develop a version of its search engine in compliance with China's censorship laws.

The company had closed its search engine in 2010 and complained of restricting freedom of expression.

Google is working on a project called Dragon Fly that will obscure terms such as human rights and religion, a move that will certainly anger activists, Intercept said.

China's state-owned newspaper Securities Daily denied the report.

A spokesman for Google commented briefly on the allegations.

"We offer a number of phone applications in China, such as the Google translation application and the FlightGuide application to save storage space on the phone memory. We also help Chinese developers and we have significant investments in Chinese companies such as JD.com," he said.

"But we will not comment on speculation about future plans."

What did the site "Intercept" say?

The Dragon Fly project began in the spring of 2017 and escalated in December after Google's CEO, Sundar Bechai, met with a Chinese government official, the company said, citing Google documents and internal sources.

The company added that the Android application contains versions known as "Maotai" and "Lungi" has undergone development, may be launched within nine months if approved by the Chinese government.

The Reuters news agency and Agence France-Presse that private sources confirmed reports to news agencies.How does the search engine work?

Intercept said the search application would "block sensitive searches" and identify the websites and sites currently blocked by the "Great Firewall" feature in China.

According to the documents that I have seen, the search through the application will lead to a blocked list and disclaimer with the words "some of the results may have been blocked due to legal requirements."

The company said that "BBC News" and "Wikipedia" among these sites banned.

What is the reaction within Google?

Google has not officially commented on the Intercept report.
"We will not comment on speculation about future plans," a company spokesman Taj Meadows told AFP.

An employee told Reuters news agency that he had moved himself from the unit he was working in to avoid participating in the project.

Some believe that such a procedure should not be a surprise.

Google's chief executive, Sundar Pichai, was very clear about his ambition when he said at the 2016 conference: "Google for all, we want to work in China and engage Chinese users."

What do activists think?

Amnesty International said Google should not go ahead with the project.

"It will be a dark day for Internet freedom if Google accepts China's extreme censorship rules to work in the market," said Patrick Bon, a Chinese researcher at Amnesty International.

"By making a profit on human rights, Google will take an unprecedented step and the Chinese government will give a victory."What did China say?

Not a big deal. But China's official newspaper Securities Daily quoted "concerned departments" as saying that reports of Google's return to the Chinese market were not real.

Reuters quoted a Chinese official as saying that Google had contacted the Chinese authorities in this regard, but there is no approval of the project so far.

Why would Google want to come back?

Simply because China is the world's largest Internet market.

Despite blocking its main search engine and the YouTube video file platform, Google still has more than 700 employees and three offices in China and is developing alternative projects.

China has agreed to use the Google application for translation on smart phones last year in its market.

Google also invested in the Chuzhou platform for live games in January and launched an industrial intelligence game on Wei Chan's social networking application.What is China?

There is strict control over common Western sites, including Facebook, Twitter and Entragam.

Certain topics, such as Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, are completely blocked. The reference to political opposition, dissidents and anti-communist activity is also prohibited, like freedom of expression and sex.

Over the past two years, China has imposed increasingly stringent rules on foreign companies, including new controls.

source

bbc