HONG KONG: Google must abandon its development of a censored search engine for China, dozens of NGOs demanded on Tuesday, warning personal data would not be safe from Beijing authorities.
A global coalition of 60 human rights and media groups wrote to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai urging him to scrap the "Dragonfly" project, which has already sparked opposition from the US tech giant’s own staff.
Pichai in October acknowledged publicly for the first time that the company is considering a Chinese search engine, saying it could offer "better information" than rival services. But Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a signatory to the letter, said Pichai must think again.
"In addition to being totally opaque and contrary to the values that Google relies on, the Dragonfly project offers no guarantee of data confidentiality," said Cedric Alviani, director of RSF’s East Asia Office.
"Beijing collects massive quantities of personal data for purposes of censorship and surveillance, including against journalists and their sources." RSF said China ranked 176 out of 180 countries in its Freedom of the Press Index.
Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010, refusing Beijing’s requirement to censor search results. Pichai has described Dragonfly as an effort to learn what Google could offer if it resumed its search operations in the world’s second largest economy.