Cyber skeptics took aim at Google in 2006 when it began offering a Chinese version of its search engine and agreed to abide by China's censorship laws.
To its credit, Google has recognized the folly of its ways. In the process, it is making the Silicon Valley proud.
Google announced Tuesday that it no longer would follow China's policy of censoring searches. The move came in response to the Mountain View company's conclusion that China had launched a cyber attack aimed at stealing information about dissidents who use Google's Gmail system.
"These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered – combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web – have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China," Google's statement said.
China, while insisting it has done nothing wrong, is defending its laws, as any sovereign would. Only time will tell if Google's stand helps budge this regime away from its rigid totalitarianism.
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