The Real Cost of Google's Sellout

“Greed is good” indeed and so it the acquisition of true knowledge. Which of the two options holds the utilitarian principal -graters happiness of the greatest number- is the question to be answered. According to the article “the real cost of Google’s sellout”, Google denied the US government rights to examine the search queries of millions of its users in order to initiate actions that would help reduce the viewing of pornographic sites by children. Google, in its defense, stated that it had to protect the right of its users. However, Google in China complied with the latter’s request to block its sites that the government thought would act contrary to its citizens interest. The entry of Google in the Chinese market has been possible due to their compliance of government policies. China’s government does not want its citizens to have access to any material that they feel may “destabilize its authoritarian government”. Google succumbed to the request of the Chinese government because it wanted to enter the market and become one of the leaders. Eventually, the number of users in China will soon exceed the number of those in the US and Google does not want to loose out on this opportunity. My opinion on this matter –as mentioned initially- is two fold. Firstly, Google as a non-chartable organization is right in censoring web sites in China since it wants to make a profit. Secondly, Google is not supporting freedom of speech and that is unethical. I believe that every human being should have the right to correct information in order to realize and make a judgment for him/her self in relation to what practices are ethical or unethical. Furthermore, Google should boycott its operations in China since it is something that it believed in the US and should be persistent with that belief. Agreed, that China has the “bargaining power” that buyers have, but it is Google’s choice if it ultimately wants to do business with a customer that will not allow it to operate with the core belief that it holds.