My good friend Oxblood Ruffin, the top Canuck in that famous hacker outfit The Cult of the Dead Cow, posts an essay accusing search engine giant Google Inc. of aiding in the cultural genocide of Tibet and asking the Silicon Valley-based company to stand up to the Chinese and lead the way in forcing the Chinese government to eliminate Internet censorship.
“Ever since Google announced that it would deploy its emasculated server farms into Mainland China, the search giant's collaboration with Chinese censors has been widely criticized by the human rights community, free speech advocates, and the United States Congress. Although Google claims to have consulted with many nameless NGOs before deciding to export its censorship technology to China, it failed to take anyone's advice not to proceed. Google apparently knew better than its critics. Google even took the step of hiring
someone from the Council on Foreign Relations to improve its public image with respect to corporate responsibility and geo-strategy. Regardless, Google's arguments for continuing to capitulate to Chinese demands are misplaced, self-serving, and uninformed. They are also a threat to Western security interests.…
It would only take one prestigious IT company to put the government of China on notice and create a chain reaction that could, in time, benefit Tibetans and Chinese alike. Google has a unique opportunity to match its technical innovations with ethical leadership. It can respectfully assert its values to the government of China and curtail some of its operations.