China orders Google to restrict searches - Storm over links to pornographic content

China orders Google to restrict searches - Storm over links to pornographic content
By Kathrin Hille in Beijing
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: June 19 2009 14:37 | Last updated: June 19 2009 14:37
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/10f5984e-5cd6-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html


China has ordered Google to suspend part of its search operations on its local website, in a show of force which could disrupt the company’s growth in the country and underscores the political risks of operating in China.

State media said on Friday that the authorities had “punished” Google China for linking to pornographic content. On Thursday, in a “law enforcement talk”, the government announced that Google China would be punished with orders to suspend foreign webpage searches and automated keywords, Xinhua, the official news agency, and China Central Television, the main state broadcaster, said.

Google confirmed that it met with government representatives “to discuss problems with the Google.cn service and its serving of pornographic images and content based on foreign language searches.” The company added that it was undertaking a thorough review of its service and said it believed it had addressed the large majority of the problem results.

Several hours after the first announcement through state media, searches on Google.cn were still turning up foreign websites. However, the automated keyword feature, which produces several suggestions for search keywords once users start typing in the search window, had been disabled.

Beijing’s move is the biggest blow to the world’s leading search engine in China since Google set up local operations there in 2005. Counting about 300m internet users, China surpassed the US as the nation with the world’s largest internet population last year.

Beijing’s move comes as China’s internet censors are trying to fight down a storm of outrage among Chinese internet users about Beijing’s attempt to have every new PC equipped with net nanny software.

The government has been clamping down on various internet sites for months in the name of a campaign against ‘vulgar’ online content. But on Thursday, the authorities took the unusual step of accusing only Google of allowing links to lurid content, although similar content was easily found through Baidu, its local rival which holds 59 per cent market share.

“If these restrictions are kept up for more than a few days, they will have a huge impact on Google’s business in China,” said Edward Yu, chief executive of Analysys, an internet research firm in Beijing.

“Traffic will drop quickly because users will find it extremely cumbersome to search without automated keywords and will feel they cannot find results they are looking for, such as foreign travel and shopping information.”

Observers said the crackdown was probably a mixture of the government’s recent hard-line approach on censorship and increasingly bitter rivalry with Baidu.

Whistleblowing on competitors is a very widespread practice in China.

Google has been growing aggressively in the country over the past year, trying to take advantage of controversy over Baidu’s business practices late last year and pushing out a series of new features, including a free music download service, this year. According to Analysys research, Google’s market share has risen continuously and exceeded 30 per cent for the first time in the first quarter of this year.