Google values?--Facilitating censorship and tracking of dissidents in China

Washington Examiner:

A prototype of a censored search engine that links users' queries to their personal phone numbers is the result of a collaboration between Google and China.

This technology would make it easier for the Communist Party of China to monitor people and what they are searching, the Intercept reported Friday.

Dragonfly, the code name for the new search engine, was designed for Android devices.

The search engine would remove information that the Chinese government deems sensitive, like content regarding political dissidents, free speech, democracy, human rights, and protests, in something called a censorship blacklist.

The blacklist includes the terms “human rights,” “student protest,” and “Nobel Prize,” among other terms in Mandarin, the language the majority of Chinese people speak.

Sources familiar with the Google project told Intercept that by linking searches to phone numbers, people seeking information banned by the Chinese government could be at risk for interrogation or detention.

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In the US Google changed its search engine to make conservative content less visible and to high light attacks on Trump after the election.  They also demonitzed several conservatives who used their resources including YouTube.   They take it several steps further in China to actually facilitate a totalitarian regimes control of the population.  By becoming a gatekeeper of information Google is abusing its position to the detriment of free speech and freedom of association.

They need to return to their original mission which would include fairness to all content.  If they do not, there will be a movement toward more regulation and possible antitrust measures.