The ubiquitous Google brand might be pulling out of China. With new evidence that Chinese cyber attacks are targeting human rights activists, Google execs threatened on Tuesday to shut down google.cn. Chinese leaders have fired back, saying they oppose hacking and are victims, not perpetrators, of the vicious online schemes. Google launched google.cn in 2006. But from the start, the Internet behemouth has been forced to grant concessions to Chinese leaders; namely,
Google censors material opposed by the Chinese government (like information about the Dalai Lama). But a senior company source says “it’s time the Chinese people had unfettered access to information.” Still, others aren’t patting Google on the back just yet; one liberal Chinese blogger says the news is “definitely not good,” and that any effort that impedes Internet access will ultimately play into the government’s hands.