Google has been developing a search engine for the China market that complies with the Beijing government’s demands for censorship.
Google employees have been resisting the project, saying they don’t want to be complicit in China’s restrictions.
Google leaders have told employees they were shutting down the program, known as Dragonfly. But company sources tell The Intercept they believe the project is still alive.
The employees have been keeping tabs on repositories of code that are stored on Google’s computers, which they say is linked to Dragonfly. The code was created for two smartphone search apps — named Maotai and Longfei — that Google planned to roll out in China for users of Android and iOS mobile devices.
Anna Bacciarelli, a technology researcher at Amnesty International, called on Google “to publicly confirm that it has dropped Dragonfly for good, not just ‘for now.’” Bacciarelli told The Intercept that Amnesty’s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo had visited Google’s Mountain View headquarters in California last week to reiterate concerns over Dragonfly and “the apparent disregard for transparency and accountability around the project.”
As the internet giants have accumulated vast power, they have become battlegrounds for what amount to public policy struggles.
Source: Google Is Still Working on China Search Engine, Employees Claim
