Internet Freedom Battle: Hillary Clinton's Policy Speech, Google's Stand in China

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered Thursday what has been described as a first-of-its-kind, historic speech detailing U.S. policy toward Internet freedom around the world. This was in response to Google's recent announcement that it has plans to end all censorship filters on its search engines in China -- and may even consider withdrawing from the country's market altogether -- in response to a cyber-attack on the Gmail (Google's e-mail service) accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Clinton spelled out American policy in plain terms:

"We stand for a single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas. And we recognize that the world's information infrastructure will become what we and others make of it. Now, this challenge may be new, but our responsibility to help ensure the free exchange of ideas goes back to the birth of our republic."

The whole issue of Internet freedom isn't solely relegated to Google's behemoth search engine, of course. Iranian youth protesters effectively utilized Twitter last summer to organize rallies against the government and send information of oppressive violence to media outlets around the world. The social networking power of Facebook has been harnessed for similar goals. E-mail accounts from a variety of providers have been hacked by wrong-doers attempting to subvert the plans of activists.

The Huffington Post's Jose Antonio Vargas described it as "by far the most important speech about Internet freedom delivered by a top U.S. official. What makes it all the more notable is the fact that it was given by arguably the most recognizable female political figure in the world." And in many ways, the speech was a bold step forward. In what appears to be a growing alliance between business interests and government interests on Internet freedom, Clinton pledged to meet with network service providers next month to discuss how the two groups can coordinate to advance their goals. Clinton also announced more funding and coordination with Internet freedom activists. She urged American companies to develop technological tools that can help reduce censorship barriers. The State Department will provide grants to aid this development.

After a decade of explosive growth of the Internet, the United States is finally getting serious about Internet freedom. Keep in mind that the World Wide Web is still a relatively new phenomenon, especially outside the United States and in developing nations.

Clinton mentioned censorship activities in Tunisia and Uzbekistan as well, but it was all too evident that the focus of this speech was directed at China:

"The Internet has already been a source of tremendous progress in China, and it is fabulous. There are so many people in China now online. But countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of Internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century. Now, the United States and China have different views on this issue, and we intend to address those differences candidly and consistently in the context of our positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship."

And, more specifically, Google:

"Increasingly, U.S. companies are making the issue of Internet and information freedom a greater consideration in their business decisions. I hope that their competitors and foreign governments will pay close attention to this trend. The most recent situation involving Google has attracted a great deal of interest. And we look to the Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough review of the cyber intrusions that led Google to make its announcement. And we also look for that investigation and its results to be transparent."

So in light of all these new developments, what should Google do? Some are applauding Google for finally taking a principled stand on censorship in China. They're hoping that Google withdraws from the market as a sign of solidarity with our Western free-speech principles.

Others believe that if Google wants to show solidarity with proponents of free speech, it needs to stay right where it is. As Politics Daily's Alex Wagner brought up: "If Google pulls out, then who will be left?"

Google currently has a significant (although not the largest) share of Chinese Internet users, and its colorful logo is well-known throughout the nation. Google has been operating in China since 2006, when it agreed to censor its search engines in exchange for access to the profitable market. Terms like "Tiananmen Square" are filtered to provide only information about the history of the square itself, with no hits referring to the 1989 protest incident. Google has defended these moves. "We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results," Google said in its statement.

The hacking of the activists' Gmail accounts has, thankfully, brought a lot of this out in the open. But as Secretary Clinton stated in her speech, "The State Department will be convening a high-level meeting next month . . . to bring together firms that provide network services for talks on Internet freedom. We hope to work together to address this challenge."

At the end of the day, this war for Internet freedom will be fought in the field. Internet providers need to keep advancing into developing nations and combating censorship instead of allowing it to grow unchecked. Yes, Google censors its search engine now, but as we've seen over the past few weeks, that practice is hardly permanent. As Time Magazine reported the day after the news broke, Google's censorship controls were completely down, and Chinese Internet surfers could access unfiltered search results. However, by midday, it seemed the censors were back up, according to CNN.

One can only imagine the serious, thought temporary, panic this inflicted on the Chinese government. The agility, the technology, and the momentum are on the side of Internet-freedom advocates. China is undoubtedly aware of this and its increasingly untenable position, as it has asked the United States to not let this incident affect ties between the two countries.

As long as Google remains in China, the controversy surrounding the Chinese regime's censorship requirements will be intense -- as will the threat that Google can remove them at, literally, the click of a button. If the Western world and Google are truly committed to further opening up China and bringing democratic reform to the world's most populous nation, Google needs to stay right where it is at the forefront of the fight for freedom of speech.