10.28.13
Internet Censor Google Claims to be Fighting Internet Censorship
Nobody knows Google censorship better than Seth Finkelstein
Summary: Google has a new charm offence/PR trying to paint itself as a battling force against censorship (depends whose)
In this age of intimidation and terror by secret agencies we quickly learn that British press is under attack by those secret agencies and overzealous politicians [1, 2, 3]. Some newspapers buckle [1], whereas others don’t, although even those that pretend not to are selling out in other ways (yes, that would be The Guardian). The whole NSA scandal has taught us and continues to show us just how aggressive Western censorship can become. Wikileaks showed us something similar 3 years ago.
“Google is trying to impress us by saying that it’s a force for good, but serious questions remain for Google to answer.”Google says it will battle country-specific Internet censorship [2], but how does it intend to tackle surveillance, which acts as means of self-censorship? This is not going to help against Western censorship, which Google is collaborating with (many of examples exist*, including the infamous copyright censorship examples). Google says it will also help fight DDOS attacks which can attack NGOs [3] (DDOS can be an attack on free speech), but why does Google collaborate with the potentially biggest sources of DDOS attacks (some are initiated by the NSA, FBI, and their proxies/minions)?
Google is trying to impress us by saying that it’s a force for good, but serious questions remain for Google to answer. Google wants people to view itself as a tool of emancipation rather than oppression (like Facebook or Microsoft, which are even worse). Be sceptical. █
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* Seth Finkelstein wrote about Google censorship even a decade ago. Wikipedia has a long article about it.
Related/contextual items from the news:
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The perfect epitaph for establishment journalism
‘If MI5 warns that this is not in the public interest who am I to disbelieve them?’, says the former editor of The Independent
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Google’s uProxy could help fight Internet censorship
At its Ideas Summit in New York, Google has announced that it is working on developing a browser extension that will act as an easy-to-use way to bypass country-specific Internet censorship and make connections safer and more private.
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Google’s anti-DDoS service Project Shield activated
DDoS attacks are a doubled edged sword – while it’s used by hacktivism groups anonymous as a means of online protest, they are also used to attack NGOs and activites to bring their sites down. Now Google is taking a stand against DDoS attackers by offering a service called Project Shield.
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