Coming Soon - A Customised Google Search Engine That Is Compliant With ‘Great Censorship Wall Of China’

In a bid to re-enter the Chinese market, Google is reportedly planning to launch a censored version of its search engine that will adhere to the draconian content regulation enforced by the ruling communist regime, reports The Intercept.

The great firewall of China, which combines technological framework and legal stipulations, blacklists several websites and suppresses search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest. Google’s search service is currently unavailable for internet users in China because it is blocked by the country’s formidable Great Firewall, named after the Great Wall of China.

According to The Intercept, the search engine project, which is internally code-named Dragonfly, was conceptualised last year and has gained momentum following a December 2017 meeting between Google’s Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and a top Chinese government official.

The Intercept report also adds that Google has created customised Android apps, demonstrated them to the Chinese Internet officials. It is likely to launch these in the next six to nine months, once China approves.

The Intercept report, which is based on a whistleblower provided access to a confidential internal company memo, adds that “the Chinese search app will automatically identify and filter websites blocked by the Great Firewall. When a person carries out a search, banned websites will be removed from the first page of results, and a disclaimer will be displayed stating that “some results may have been removed due to statutory requirements.”

In 2010, Google had decided to shut down its Chinese search engine and moved its Chinese-language search platform to Hong Kong.

Google‘s China relaunch is certain to raise serious questions about the company’s values and ethics, given China’s long history of suppressing free speech by clamping down on the internet.