Bipartisan Senate Group Blasts Google Over Potential Chinese Search Engine

Launching a “censored” search engine in China risks making Google “complicit in human rights abuses related to China’s rigorous censorship regime,” said Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Friday in a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai. Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Cory Gardner, R-Colo., also signed the letter. The lawmakers said Google’s Dragonfly search engine would “prohibit websites and search terms deemed objectionable by the Chinese government and Communist Party.” Google’s plan is inconsistent with its March 2010 decision to stop censoring results on Google.cn after a cyberattack compromised Gmail accounts linked to dozens of Chinese human rights activists, they wrote. The senators asked how Google can reconcile its plan with the platform’s “unofficial motto” of “Don’t be evil.” Google didn’t comment.