China is one of the countries in the world that have come up with tough regulations regarding internet use within its borders. Amidst international pressure to allow freedom of access to the internet, China has consistently defended herself on the censorship right by releasing a document that outlines the attitude of the government towards the internet (Helft & Barboza, 2010).
Search-engine giant, Google, entered China in the early 2006. This was after it had a deal with the People’s Republic of China. This led to the birth of Google.cn, a customized version of Google’s search engine that was run within China only. This was to be in line with China’s censorship regulations. This meant websites that were disapproved by the Chinese government, websites that promoted free speech, any search that mentioned the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 and, websites that promoted spiritual movements that were banned by the government such as the Falun Gong were going to be blocked from access by the Chinese people. In the deal they had with the Chinese government, Google.cn was given the official license to be an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in China. However, this came with some restrictions owing to the censorship policies in China.
Google enjoyed massive success when it entered the Chinese market. The success was attributed to the fact that the company focused on helping exporters to expand their trades. Owing to its international presence, Google users were majorly interested in getting news from Western countries. The decision to venture into the Chinese market was brilliant. This was because the population that had access to internet was rapidly growing in China and there was a high demand for a fast local search engine, which was provided by Google.cn. From Google’s mission, their aim is to make all the information of the world accessible to everyone, everywhere and, at any time. This mission expressed Google’s fundamental principles of meeting end user expectations and expanding information access to anyone in the world. The censorships imposed by China made it difficult for the firm to achieve its mission (Wilson, Ramos & Havey, n.d.).
Before joining that market, Google had been blocked twice due to their failure to comply with the censorship laws. Even when they finally entered the market, they knew that such laws existed. They had to comply with the regulations and restrict access to digital content that was being screened by the Chinese government. This meant that the incentive obtained by Google was minimal in the Chinese market. Additionally, Google failed to understand the specific needs of its end users since it was viewed more as a foreign entity. For them to succeed in China, they also had to keep up with competition from Baidu which provided attractive services such as a wide range of entertainment content and, instant messaging.
Moreover, it was believed that there were some external forces that also compelled Google to terminate its operations in China. For instance, Baidu.com, Google’s chief competitor in China, is believed to have been pulling strings in the government in order to gain a substantial market share at the expense of Google (Wilson, Ramos & Havey, n.d.). This did not go down well with the firm’s top management. Also, additional internet security measures were introduced due to the anticipation of change in political leadership in November 2002. All these were the major factors that were considered by Google before it shut down its operations in China.
Viewing this issue from a financial perspective, China provided a fast growing, dynamic and, competitive market. Google had successfully distinguished itself from other companies by its motto “Don’t Be Evil”. This made it trusted since it ensured privacy of people’s information. The decision to censor itself in China proved to be morally costly, forcing the firm to re-examine itself and analyze the effects censorship.
References
Helft, M. & Barboza, D. (2010, March, 22). Google Shuts China Site in Dispute Over Censorship. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/technology/23google.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&s rc=igw&_r=0
Wilson, K., Ramos, Y., & Harvey, D. (n.d.). GOOGLE IN CHINA. CasePlace. Retrieved April 7, 2014, from http://www.caseplace.org/pdfs/GoogleInChina.pdf
