Google might think Chinese censorship of the Internet is unacceptable, but Bill Gates says it’s not that bad. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s Good Morning America, Gates called China’s attempts to censor the Internet “very limited,” and said its controls are not much different than other countries’ policies.
Chinese media was glad for the support. On Wednesday, the English-language Global Times, a tabloid published by the People’s Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper, trumpeted, “Bill Gates Bats for China,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Gates was also the front-page topic of the Chinese-language People’s Daily and China Daily, the leading English-language newspaper in the country.
‘Easy’ To Avoid Controls
Gates said it’s “easy to go around” the Chinese government’s system of controls. “And so I think keeping the Internet thriving there is very important,” he said. Other countries also censor the Internet — to ban porn, for example, or the way that Germany censors references to the Nazi Party. “And so you’ve got to decide: Do you want to obey the laws of the countries you’re in, or not?” Gates asked.
Make no mistake, Gates’ comments are directly aimed at Google. He told The New York Times that Google has “done nothing and gotten a lot of credit for it.”
“What point are they making?” he mused. “Now, if Google ever chooses to pull out of the United States, then I’d give them credit.”
Aside from these sorts of media swipes, however, don’t look for Microsoft to take a strong position with regard to China, says Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle. “Google took a rather bold two-step in this situation. Not only did they claim a state-sponsored cyberattack, but also retaliation by bringing Chinese Internet censorship back to the front line. Who wants to get in the middle of…
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