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Saturday, January 28, 2006

Google: Appeasement Works!

Google has released a not-very-impressive statement on its decision to kowtow to the censors in Communist China. Evidently, appeasement works because, if you do it long enough, fascists will decide no longer to be fascistic. The Googlers write:

Obviously, the situation in China is far different than it is in those other countries; while China has made great strides in the past decades, it remains in many ways closed. We aren’t happy about what we had to do this week, and we hope that over time everyone in the world will come to enjoy full access to information. But how is that full access most likely to be achieved? We are convinced that the Internet, and its continued development through the efforts of companies like Google, will effectively contribute to openness and prosperity in the world. Our continued engagement with China is the best (perhaps only) way for Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal information access to all our users there.

History doesn’t have very much good to say about that particular strategy.

Posted on January 28, 2006 09:42 AM. Permalink