Censoring Google

US News and World Report article:  Should Google Comply With Government Censorship Requests?

Google's Government Transparency Report

Comment from Dorothy Chou, Google's Senior Policy Analyst

Our First Amendment to the US Constitution severely hinders the US government's ability to censor the exchange of information and ideas.  Unfortunately, this limitation is somewhat unique to the US, and even here, those limitations can be challenged.

Google is the most successful corporate presence in the internet.  It's basically the glue that holds it all together.  This results in gross attempts by the world's governments, including the US, to limit and control the information and content Google makes available to its users.  Sometimes, government requests for the elimination of content or data makes sense.  Sites engaged in illegal activity can and should be shut down.  Unfortunately, governments don't tend to stop there, often requesting the elimination of sites that criticize or challenge political entities or public figures.  These kinds of attempts to protect the government from the people should never be tolerated.

I applaud Google for the stand they have made.  Government requests are considered and, where appropriate, complied with.  Inappropriate requests, however, are ignored, even when submitted in the guise of court orders.  I consider this policy to be responsible and ethical.