Google’s 2006 decision to enter the Chinese market on the Chinese government’s terms, which include censorship, is often held up as the symbolic moment when its mantra of “Don’t be evil” conflicted with a hard business reality. In the end, pragmatic capitalism won out over principle, and Google.CN was launched.
Google’s rationalization that censored access to Google was better for the Chinese than no access to Google has always rung hollow to me. “Don’t be evil unless it is going to give competitors an edge in the world’s biggest market” still has “Don’t be evil” in it, but slippery slopes are paved with caveats. With that decision, Google merged off of the high road, joining the rest of the multinationals on the highway to the Chinese market.
Now, the Chinese government has turned its significant cyber warfare skills, honed by years of attacking US government and military networks, on Google in order to track dissidents and critics.
Google has, surprisingly and righteously, reacted like Ralphie towards the end of A Christmas Story. The company wheeled around on the bully Chinese government and boldly defended itself by publicly stating that the Chinese governement is a hacker, and that censorship is wrong. It looks like they may well take the Google-logo colored exercise balls strewn across their Chinese operation and go home.
Cynics have pointed out that Chinese Internet users don’t engage in a lot of eCommerce so Google may be taking the opportunity to abandon a drain on its resources while repairing some of the PR damage its decision to go into China caused in the first place.
I doubt it. The lure of the sheer size of that market is still very strong. Last year Chinese consumers bought more cars than American consumers, and you don’t hear Microsoft (whose decision to grant the Chinese government access to Windows source code is the genesis of the Chinese cyber warfare program) talking about pulling out.
Chinese consumers are following the American consumer’s trajectory but with the huge booster of digital technology and our map: Today, they are hooked on the freedom of the automobile the way we were in the 1950’s, but it won’t take 60 years before they are hooked on plugging their credit cards into Rue La La.
It is my hope that Google’s motivation is not cynical but principled, that its management was never comfortable with its relationship with the Chinese government and, like Ralphie, has reached the point where they just aren’t going to take it anymore.
Pulling out of China would show the Chinese people that while their government may be able to keep our government’s mouth shut by holding our massive debt, our government cannot in turn put a muzzle on a private US company run by private US citizens, because despite whatever other issues we may have, we really do have a Constitution that protects Freedom of Speech.
That is a very powerful message that I hope Google chooses to send.
Greg Swann says:
This was a great post. I hope you’re right about G’s motives. This is the kind of market discipline other businesses would be wise to emulate.
> slippery slopes are paved with caveats
Inspired writing.
January 17, 2010 — 11:58 pm