Google’s Hong Kong-based Chinese site will no longer warn users when a search might run afoul of China’s Great Firewall, The Guardian reports. Starting in May of 2012, Google added a warning that searching for certain terms might “temporarily break your connection” as the results were blocked. Now, after extended low-level clashes with the Chinese government, Google confirmed that it stopped showing the warning in December.
Google stops warning Chinese citizens of potential censorship in searches
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
A Guardian source in China reportedly said that the company decided its move had been “counterproductive,” since it resulted in users being disconnected in retaliation. Google services have been blocked repeatedly in China, likely most recently in November, and it’s fought an uphill battle to avoid working within the local censorship regime — in 2010, it moved its entire search operation from mainland China to Hong Kong. China, meanwhile, seems to have been cracking down in recent months, apparently renewing its efforts to block unauthorized VPN use and other methods of getting around the Firewall.
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