Web Giant Google Clashes Against Internet Censorship

WASHINGTON – Google Inc. finds Web censorship a threat to its business affairs that thrive in advertising. The company urges the US Government to look into how online restrictions can interfere with trade thus being an economic issue.

Google’s director of public policy and government affairs Andrew McLaughlin says that censorship indeed is a hurdle to trade. However, the U.S. Trade Representative can only get involved in Net censorships when they violate international trade rules according to Gretchen Hamel, USTR spokeswoman.

Google is praised by human rights activists for its drive in addressing the issue of censorship. They find Google’s efforts as earnest although it may only be provoked by economic incentives.

The company’s fight against Net censorship may also be sparked by a paper from two years ago written by Columbia Law School professor Timothy Wu in which he stresses that when a foreign web page is downloaded it successfully includes its service as well. Google plans to employ trade agreements to resist this and instead create settled agreements that freely offer “information services.” Aside from this, Google has paid $160,000 last year to Podesta Group to push for free-speech and other issues concerning Internet business in the realm of federal lobbying.

China, India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are some of the countries that are active in restricting web content. It is reflected on a study conducted by OpenNet Inititative that shows a significant increase in Web censorship wherein 25 out of 41 countries are found to be involve in the act with their governments filtering and blocking internet content. Despite these, Google continues to strive to develop globally.



Vanessa Arellano Doctor
http://jump2top.com