The Chinese government has blocked access to YouTube and Google News in order to keep citizens from accessing videos and news reports about the civil unrest in Tibet. NewScientist.com points out that the Chinese version of the search engine, Google.cn, already censors search results per official request, and asks, when will Google start censoring Google News and YouTube to appease the Chinese Government?
It would be worse in PR terms but more effective in business terms for Google to engage with Chinese censors in reshaping Google News and YouTube to please them...How the company would square that with its "don't be evil" motto is hard to imagine.China will soon boast more internet users than US, making it a lucrative market for Google. A quick trip to the official Google blog doesn't reveal anything about the company's position on political censorship, but they do urge everyone to vote in the upcoming YouTube awards. Maybe they should have a special category for Best Video You Can't See in China. –Andy Wright
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