Google slammed for censoring its Chinese sites

Google said on Tuesday it would launch versions of its search and news websites in China that censor material deemed objectionable to authorities there, reasoning that users getting limited access to content was better than no access.

The new local Google site, expected to be launched on Wednesday at Google.cn, will include notes at the bottom of results pages that disclose when content has been removed, said Andrew McLaughlin, senior policy counsel for Google.

He said in a statement: "Google.cn will comply with local Chinese laws and regulations. In deciding how best to approach the Chinese - or any - market, we must balance our commitments to satisfy the interest of users, expand access to information and respond to local conditions."

Google will not initially offer Gmail or Blogger in China until executives feel they can strike that balance adequately, McLaughlin said.

Web surfers in China have had difficulty accessing the Google service, reporting frustratingly slow connections and time-outs, Google said. Human rights groups have accused China's government of blocking access to websites that do not adhere to the government's restrictions.

The France-based human rights group Reporters Without Borders (RWB) blasted Google, saying it was taking an immoral position that could not be justified.

The group said in a statement: "By offering a version without 'subversive' content, Google is making it easier for Chinese officials to filter the internet themselves. A website not listed by search engines has little chance of being found by users. The new Google version means that even if a human rights publication is not blocked by local firewalls, it has no chance of being read in China."

With a population of 1.3 billion people and more than 100 million internet users, China's largely untapped online market is very attractive to technology companies. Google is opening a research and development centre in China and owns a stake in Baidu.com, the most popular search engine in that country.

Google is not the only US search firm targeted with complaints about censorship in China. Previously, Google censored its news site in China, removing material banned by the authorities but it had not censored its US-based search engine accessible in China, and was the last of the major search engines not to have done so, according to RWB.

Meanwhile, earlier this month Microsoft admitted removing the blog of an outspoken Chinese journalist from its MSN Spaces site, citing its policy of adhering to local laws. Last June, Microsoft acknowledged censoring words such as "freedom" and "democracy" from its Chinese MSN portal site.

And in September, RWB accused Yahoo! of providing information that helped Chinese officials convict a journalist charged with leaking state secrets. Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Angered by such reports, some politicians have threatened to pass laws restricting US companies from co-operating with the Chinese government on censorship. Hearings are planned for the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Rights and in the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

Ironically, Google was praised by privacy advocates and consumers last week for fighting the US government's request to hand over random web search data. AOL, MSN and Yahoo! had complied with the request.

Elinor Mills writes for CNET News.com