Google Stops Censoring in China

Every big American Internet company is angling for the same thing, more or less: global domination. But the one country where they have the most potential for growth also has some of the most entrenched competition and thorniest human rights issues. The battle for China’s 618 million Internet users is fraught with moral and logistical problems that have sent Twitter, Facebook and Google all packing in recent years.

Every big American Internet company is angling for the same thing, more or less: global domination. But the one country where they have the most potential for growth also has some of the most entrenched competition and thorniest human rights issues. The battle for China’s 618 million Internet users is fraught with moral and logistical problems that have sent Twitter, Facebook and Google all packing in recent years.

Censorship watchdogs have grown concerned that Microsoft Bing could be filtering its Chinese-language search results for people in the U.S. in much the same way it censors the Internet inside of China.

The other day I had a little fun with Bing's search results on Windows 8 problems.  But this seems much more serious.  From a reader: No comment.

Michael Johnston submits:Google (GOOG), the California-based search engine giant, made good on its promise to stop censoring results in China on Monday evening, upping the stakes in its showdown with the Chinese government.

Google says it has stopped censoring its search results in China, setting itself up for a confrontation with the country's authorities.

I went to China at the end of November and found something unexpected: complete Internet freedom. Before arriving,  one frequent visitor to the country warned me to be ready for a strange experience. He said that as soon as I landed, I would be in a world where I could no longer check Twitter and Instagram on my phone all the time. He said both services are blocked by the government.

With negotiations at an impasse in the high-profile showdown that has escalated tensions between China and the United States, Google Inc.