back to article Iron Mike Pence blasts Google for its censor-happy Dragonfly Chinese search engine

US Vice-President Mike Pence has harsh words for Google over its involvement in the Dragonfly search platform, reportedly under development for use in the Middle Kingdom. The criticism came on Thursday in a scathing speech against China that the Veep gave to the Hudson Institute, a DC-based public policy organization. Shortly …

  1. thexfile

    The clown or his henchman.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The Truth ? You can't handle the Truth. So here, have some Fake News.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    'So far, however, Google has not caved into the pressure.'

    That's because Google and Facebook think they're untouchable sovereign nations. Nothing any politician has done or said in the EU or US has really hit Google hard enough.

    Its not just the China censored search engine Google wants in on either, its the whole China 2020 social credit score aspect. That's a wet dream to the sociopaths at Google & Facebook etc.

    That's why they both want in. And once they get in, they'll bring that monster back home to the West, and make behavioral conforming zombies out of everyone....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 'So far, however, Google has not caved into the pressure.'

      That monster is already here, just not fully visible to all and sundry. Every bit of your behavior that might be held by one of the various companies, not just the big three credit bureaus, can influence your being hired, sometimes even fired, renting an apartment, credit card application acceptance, and so forth.

      As for Google and China, Eric Schmidt is already on record predicting a bifurcated Internet, it should be any surprise that the people he worked with are placing bets on whether that will happen. If so, certain multinationals are certainly going to desire operations on both sides of the divide. Especially if it is not just China but a big block of Asia and Africa signing up to join that network.

    2. TheMeerkat

      Re: 'So far, however, Google has not caved into the pressure.'

      Taking into account that Google is engaged in PC censorship in the West too...

    3. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: 'So far, however, Google has not caved into the pressure.'

      "That's because Google and Facebook think they're untouchable sovereign nations. Nothing any politician has done or said in the EU or US has really hit Google hard enough."

      That's because Google and Facebook have had a word in the politicians ears. "Wouldn't it be awful if, let's say a Russian or Chinese hacker, released your search history? I mean, looking for the Adult Pony Club is a totally normal thing for people with those tastes. But we don't think the general population may hold the same view point."

      "OK Mr.Google and Mrs.Facebook, we'll go easy on you. Just please keep that stuff private. The wife would kill me if she knew what I got up to with her sister".

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 'So far, however, Google has not caved into the pressure.'

      That's because Google and Facebook think they're untouchable sovereign nations. Nothing any politician has done or said in the EU or US has really hit Google hard enough.

      Actually, when you think of it, politicians could very easily prevent Google from doing this: Just pass a law.

      The thing is, though politicians are big fans of posturing, they know perfectly well that a lot of the economy is built on the top of working with authoritarian governments like China. All this wringing of hands is just an occasion for them to pose as defenders of free speech, democracy and the American way of life.

      Google was in fact censoring results in China until 2010, and none of these politicians complained about it. It's not that they care more now than before. It's just that now they get to posture.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 'So far, however, Google has not caved into the pressure.'

      On the other hand, I like the idea of Google getting back into China.

      If there's one thing China likes less than freedom, it's foreign competition.

  3. DerekCurrie
    Thumb Up

    It's a 3-D World of Human Thought

    Politics attempts to live at the lowest common denominator of human thought. And yet, all of us think off the 1-dimensional political spectrum unless we've caved to the propaganda protocol. Here's an excellent example where I find it difficult to agree with Mr. Pence on much of anything, except at least this issue.

    End the China-fication of the west. End kowtowing to Chinese interests for the sake of cheap labor, Chinese market and Chinese investment. Their human rights abuse continues to be abysmal. They continue to be a criminal nation in several respects. To watch Google or any other company compromise their humane values for the sake of the abusive and abused Chinese market is compromising to the point of disgusting. Thank you Mr. Pence for saying something useful and important to the world at large. Please keep it up.

    1. Headley_Grange Silver badge

      End the China-fication of the west

      1. "End the China-fication of the west"

      2. "Kowtowing to Chinese Interests"

      !?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It's a 3-D World of Human Thought

      The human right records of the US is far from pristine - and particularly with the current administration, both on the domestic and international level.

      Pence's boss has interests in China that I don't remember being so keen on human rights, and he's now, I'm quoting him, "fallen in love" with the Nork dictator. And now they're so hurt by Google doing business in China? WTF?

  4. Potemkine! Silver badge

    Bing!

    Google is blocked in China, Microsoft isn't. Does Bing incorporate the filters the chinese government wants?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Julian Bradfield

        Re: Bing!

        I tried, and the Chinese search returns large numbers of pictures of the event including gruesome photos of dead protesters. So I don't understand your claim.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Bing!

          I think you're right, that the difference between results (you did see there was a difference, right?) could well be in the simplified Chinese source sites avoiding the (iconic in the West) tank pictures. So a Bing-sided filter is not obvious, it's probably only sticking to the language. Better withdraw my post.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Bing!

            Bing is censored in China, but it's so irrelevant that even Windows uses Baidu as default. I guess that's also the reason nobody's complaining about them "strengthening the Communist Party's censorship".

  5. tiggity Silver badge

    Ironic

    Give Pence is anti abortion and thus wants to restricts a woman's rights over what happens to her own body. .. so restricting what a person can do is great to Pence, *but only* if its something he does not like (such as women's rights)

    1. Spazturtle Silver badge

      Re: Ironic

      Oh come on, you very well know that isn't how he sees it, he sees it as protecting the rights of the child and that the pro-choice crowd are the ones who want to take away people's rights. Stop reducing politics to mud slinging. Refusing to even try and understand the other sides views only weakens your side.

      1. DavCrav

        Re: Ironic

        "Refusing to even try and understand the other sides views only weakens your side."

        Bollocks. It's all about control, nothing about being pro-life. You cannot be anti-abortion and pro-gun and be consistent. Guns kill people in the US, but he wants them. Abortions terminate foetuses in the US, but he doesn't want them. Banning guns is more consistent with human rights than banning abortion, so let's start there, and then we can talk about abortion.

        And if it's really about people's rights, the right not to be sexually assaulted is more important than the right to be made a Supreme Court Justice, but these people seem pro-rape as well.

        So it's hard to view it as anything other than an attack on women's rights.

  6. Mystic Megabyte
    WTF?

    It's a double WTF!

    Pence is a moron who has sold his soul in order to promote his "Christian" beliefs. How crazy is that?

  7. MJI Silver badge

    He is so obcessed over transgender that

    I think he either likes the porn or wants the person, or even wants to sex change.

    Usual thing, those who protest the most are scared they are what they protest about.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Pence...

    Sure, there's a lot wrong with his politics and his beliefs. But don't knock him until you've read his anonymous op-ed in the Washington Post.

  9. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    And this "Dragonfly" thing... exists?

    Are we sure about that? Just asking.

    1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

      It exists now.

      (As reported.)

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Says the man who walked out of a football game because people were exercising their freedom to protest.

  11. Paul

    Given the republicans are rolling back much of the legislation that controls companies, they can't really complain when those companies do whatever they want.

    Banking protections rolled back.

    Asbestos restrictions rolled back.

    Internet neutrality rolled back.

  12. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    Jealous?

    Trump-Pence want the feature first so they can stop "fake news."

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Google should immediately end development of the Dragonfly app that will strengthen the Communist Party's censorship & compromise the privacy of Chinese customers," Iron Mike said, to hearty applause.

    With Google you aren't a customer, you're the product.

  14. nice spam database '); drop table users; --

    If you haven't noticed yet, Google is already censored for westerners, just in another way. But most people are happy with that, because it aligns with their current values (anti-communist, anti-socialist, anti-muslim). We could say westerners are more heavily indoctrinated than Chinese, or indoctrinated in a different way, so they tend to self-censor and censor by group-pressure. To this we should add that in the west, the internet doesn't have the same weight for influencing as television does, so there is where most of the efforts are put. There is no lack of studies that confirm the censorship and bias in our media: from anti-minorities tendencies to the outright suppression of certain political ideas.

  15. Putonghua73

    Don't Be Evil

    I was very pleased that Stephen Colbert raised the issue of Xi Jinping's cult of personality i.e. a new authoritarianism, removal of term limits, social rating of Chinese citizens, and rolling out one of the most sophisticated surveillance systems.

    Google's forked tongued pronunciations on Dragonfly is very disturbing because they have eroded their core values to such an extent that I am now forced to switch mobile OS, email provider, browser, and anything else associated with Google.

    I cannot turn a blind eye, especially as my partner is from mainland China.

    The ugly authoritarian strain that has emerged under Xi Jinping, and the crackdown on any kind of dissent, whether it is Uighur identity, human rights, LGBT rights, etc, forces me to make choices in my personal life. The fact that Google removed 'Don't be evil' from its code of conduct earlier in the year tells me everything that I need to know.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like