USA Propaganda vs. Chinese Censorship on Google

I don't normally write about politics, but after looking at Revealing China Censorship via Google Images, I have to object to the continual focus on censorship by so many self-righteous blogger zealots.

I do agree that the issue with Google, and their censorship in China, is worth examining.  The most interesting aspect isn't really the censorship, but the moral Google vs. the immoral Google arguments, those are entertaining.  But, now it's getting serious.  And flawed.  People are actually believing that the dominance of images of tanks shown for Tiananmen Square on Google USA should be what the Chinese see!  Bloggers are claiming something is morally wrong because the Chinese site shows none of these, but rather images of life and people at Tiananmen Square.

What we are seeing is censorship, but not of Chinese content, but rather censorship of USA propaganda.   In the USA when you say "Tiananmen Square" all that people think about is the tragic events of 1989.  The entire focus is on this political event, not on the people in the square today, or the meaning of it at any time before.  It cannot be possibly be in the interests of the Chinese people to pound into their brain a single event solely from a western perspective.

When you search for "World Trade Center", yes, you will find about half the images are those of the terrorist attacks.  But, the first four are of the WTC, standing proud in its finest days.  Many of the other images are healing images, images of memorials.  Over time, the US needs to come to grips with this tragedy.  Searching for vietnam does not bring up an entire page of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  No, in fact, there is only one war image on the first page.  Just as seaches for World Trade Center, 20 years from now, may have fewer result images of the tragedy, and more relevance to the overall course of history.

Please do not tell me that thinking people believe that a 600-year-old public space where events and history unfolded in China should be represented by an entire page of tanks on Google Images!  Please!

What we see as censorship looks different in China I suspect.  I'm sure the most conservative Chinese views are that it serves political interests by suppressing unwanted and disruptive information.  But, maybe there's another view, and I'm guessing that there are Chinese liberal thinkers who believe that balance, and some minimization of USA propaganda might not be so bad.  Neither Google produces balanced information.  It's as ridiculous to see no tank confrontations as it is to see a whole page of tank confrontations.  Progress has to start somewhere, and I don't think this is black and white.

This will surely be an interesting debate, but let's be a bit more fair to both Google and to China.  Admit that the contents of the Internet is prejudiced toward Western views.  Do we really want to push Western values on everyone in the world?  I, for one, want people to think for themselves.  As did many people who founded the USA.  By cooperating with non-western governments and swallowing our pride (and prejudices) a bit, maybe it's all a good thing in the end.

Comments

[dumbfounder]

As the CEO of a competing search engine, I see this problem from a different angle. I think Google is going against ideals it holds dear just to make a buck. Check out my statement:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060130/dcm045.html

[Gary Wisniewski]

I do agree with you wholeheartedly about Google, Chris, and I applaud Dumbfind's dedication to the ideals that Google claims to hold so dear. My post was really designed to point out that there are many ways to look at censorship, and although it is a truly important to look hard at Google and their behavior, it looks to me like it's on the verge of becoming a witch hunt.

I do think it's important to recognise that any country may have reasons to want a "localized version" of a search engine, and any US company who provides a "localized version" is probably doing the right thing. Where we cross the line between localized versions and censorship.... that's the interesting question. I'd say Google has firmly stepped over that line.

[Patrick Mullen]

Maybe the tank pictures isn't what everyone is concerned about. Pretty sure the students remember that one. Removing blogs and content about freedom isn't quite the same thing. Removing the ability to communicate within their country isn't quite the same thing. I don't think China is worried about their citizens sharing ideas with westerners, I think they are concerned about citizens sharing ideas with each other. Course, I could be wrong.

[Ryan]

With China, American based companies (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft) are cooperating with the Chinese government to ban thousands of websites. To me, it is considered a violation of human rights (freedom of speech). And it is not necessarily US propaganda that is banned - anything that China deems inaproppriate. China mprisons people who violate these laws and many others. A man who was handing out religous books was arrested. Also, correct me if I am wrong, but Google results appear by how recent the last data was posted. At least China does not have complete control of the press, forcing out propaganda like North Korea.