[wangweij]

I'm with Google. Many years ago when Google created the censored search site in China, it was the first one that showed the sentence "According to local laws, some search results are removed". Before Google, no search engine showed this and people didn't even realize they were seeing censored search results.

With a new censored search engine in China, Chinese users can access more accurate (and ethical) information than what they have now even if it has fewer results than google.com. This is not only about politics or democracy. In fact, even local players like Baidu will be forced to enhance their search results, which means their users (maybe forced to use it because it's the default one on their cellphones) can get better search results.

I don't think Chinese users will be stupid enough to think the censored search results reflect what the real internet looks like. People know about VPN but often find it difficult to use. VPN providers are being closed down or even sued everyday. Apple's AppStore no longer provide VPN apps. Those who claim only VPN users deserve to use Google are evil.

To me, the only bad thing is that the Chinese government will think they are "strong" enough to force a company like Google to obey them, but I think this is just a face gain for them but the ordinary internet users have much more benefits.

[bo1024]

I agree there is a really big ethical difference if Google search shows that phrase or not. (Would that be part of their new censored engine?)