Google stops re-routing Chinese searchers to Hong Kong

Posted on 29 Jun 2010 at 12:12

The Chinese government has told Google that its decision to automatically redirect users of its Google.cn portal to its Hong Kong site is unacceptable.

All commercial websites operating in China require an Internet Content Provider licence and the Chinese government has informed Google that it will not have its licence renewed if it continues to operate in the same way. Google’s Internet Content Provider licence was due for renewal at the end of June, so the company had to change its policies quickly or risk going dark in China.

Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said that this was “a prospect dreaded by many of our Chinese users, who have been vocal about their desire to keep Google.cn alive.”

Drummond said that instead of automatically redirecting users to Google.com.hk, it would greet Google.cn users with a landing page that links to Google’s Hong Kong portal for web searches while also offering a range of Google.cn services such as music and text translate, which can be provided without filtering in China.

Following a highly sophisticated attack on Google’s corporate infrastructure in January, which it said came from within China, the internet giant threatened to quit China over censorship. It said that it would rather leave China than censor search results on its Chinese portal.

“This new approach is consistent with our commitment not to self-censor and, we believe, with local law,” said Drummond. “We are therefore hopeful that our license will be renewed on this basis so we can continue to offer our Chinese users services via Google.cn.”

Author: Tim Smalley

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