Google return in China under question after employee outcry

Back in the beginning of the month we reported about a project called Dragonfly, aiming to bring back Google Search to China but with revised mechanisms and abiding by the censorship laws in China.

Now The New York Times reported that a letter demanding more transparency to understand the ethical consequences has been circling around the internal networks of Google and has been signed by over 1,400 employees of the Mountain View company.

The message, acquired by NYT, is one page long and asks leadership “to work with employees to implement concrete transparency and oversight processes”. Undersigned Googlers expect future projects to have an ethics review structure that includes rank and file employee representatives; an ombudspeople; a clear plan to enable Googlers an individual ethical choice; and an ethical assessment of Dragonfly, among other projects.

Google officials are also requested to have

internally vissible communications regarding “any new areas of substantial ethical concern”.

Back in 2010 Google had an issue with Chinese hackers and in response has pulled off all its major services from the country. Investors are not pleased that the company right now have no leverage in an eventual attempt to return to the Chinese market and are pressuring officials to find a way, while employees stated concerns about the “Don’t Be Evil” internal motto of the company.

The New York Times pointed out that some employees are in favor of re-entering China, saying there is essentially no pressure on Beijing and Google is missing out on the world’s largest base of internet users.

Source

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: