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GoogleInChina_FinalDesignedCase.indd Case Studies in Ethics a t D uke Un i ve r s i t y dukeethics.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecom- mons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You may reproduce this work for non-commercial use if you use the entire document and attribute the source: The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. Business Ethics In early 2006, search-engine giant Google struck a deal with the People’s Republic of China and launched Google.cn, a version of its search engine run by the company from within China. Launching Google.cn required Google to operate as an official Internet Service Provider (ISP) in China, a country whose Communist government requires all ISPs to self- censor, removing content that is considered illegal from search results. From a financial perspective, China represented for Google a dynamic and fast-growing, though increasingly competitive, market. Google’s decision to self-censor Google.cn attracted significant ethical criticism at the time. The company’s motto is “Don’t Be Evil,” and prior to entering China, Google had successfully set itself apart from other technology giants, becoming a company trusted by millions of users to protect and store their personal infor- mation. The choice to accept self-censorship, and the discussion and debate generated by this choice, forced Google to re-examine itself as a company and forced the international community to reconsider the implications of censorship. This case was prepared as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either the effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Prepared by Kristina Wilson, Yaneli Ramos, and Daniel Harvey under the supervision of Professor Wayne Norman (edited by Professor Chris MacDonald) “The Great Firewall” GOOGLE IN CHINA Case Studies in Ethics dukeethics.org2 “While removing search results is inconsistent with Google’s mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission.” – Google senior policy counsel Andrew McLaughlin.”1 Introduction In early 2006, search-engine giant Google struck a deal with the People’s Republic of China and launched Google. cn, a version of its search engine run by the company from within China. Launching Google.cn required Google to operate as an offi cial Internet Service Provider (ISP) in China, a country whose Communist government requires all ISPs to self-censor, removing content that is considered illegal from search results. Such censored content ranges from political subjects such as “democracy” and “Tibet,” to religious subjects such as “Falun Gong” (a spiritual movement banned by the government) and “the Dalai Lama,” to social subjects like “pornography.” By choosing to launch Google.cn, Google seemed to be implying that its mission and values could be consistent with self- censorship in China. From a fi nancial perspective, China represented for Google a dynamic and fast-growing, though increasingly competitive, market. With over 105 million users online in early 2006, China’s Internet market was the second in size only to that of the United States, but it still represented only about 8% of the Chinese population. Though Google’s U.S.-based site, Google.com, had been available in China since the site’s inception in 1999, service was slow and unreliable due to extensive Chinese government censoring of international content. Google’s major U.S. competitors, Yahoo! and Microsoft MSN, had each entered the Chinese market as ISPs years earlier, agreeing to self-censor. In addition, escalating competition from Chinese search engine Baidu.com was quickly eroding Google. com’s Chinese market share: between 2002 and 2007, Baidu.com’s market share increased from a mere 3%2 to a dominant 58%.3 Google’s decision to self-censor Google.cn attracted signifi cant ethical criticism at the time. The company’s motto is “Don’t Be Evil,” and prior to entering China, Google had successfully set itself apart from other technology giants, becoming a company trusted by millions of users to protect and store their personal information. However, in early 2006, Google found itself in front of the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives, defending its actions in China side by side with Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Cisco Systems. Google’s choice to accept self-censorship, and the discussion and debate generated by this choice, forced Google to reexamine itself as a company and forced the international community to reconsider the implications of censorship. Google and its Mission History and Services4 Google is the world’s largest search engine. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Stanford graduate students, Google began as a college research project. While at Stanford, the founders created an innovative technology that would analyze webpages and retrieve the most pertinent information for any given search query. 1 Oliver, C & Shinal, J. “Google will censor new China service”. MarketWatch. (January 25, 2006). 2 Thopmpson, C. “Google’s China Problem (And China’s Google Problem)”. The New York Times Magazine (April 23, 2006): LexisNexis. Duke University Library. 6 Nov. 2007. 3 Liu, J. “Baidu and Google at logger heads in China; Business Asia by Bloomberg”. International Herald Tribune (July 26, 2007): LexisNexis Duke University Library. 6 Nov. 2007. 4 “Milestones”. Available from www.google.com. Accessed on November 4, 2007. Case Studies in Ethics dukeethics.org3 Their innovation caught the attention of their classmates, and of others who knew them, and later on of a few investors. After they generated suffi cient capital from investors, family, and friends who saw potential in their idea, they opened their fi rst offi ce in a garage in Menlo Park, California. This offi ce had a washer and dryer and a hot tub that was emblematic of what today continues to be Google’s laid-back corporate culture. Now the company has moved into the “Googleplex,” a much larger offi ce in Mountain View, California. As the company grew, so did its range of products and services. Today, not only is Google a search engine, but it is also a mapping service, a translator, an e-mail account, and a blog-hosting service, among many other services. In fact, Google now has over 40 products and features on its website which extend beyond its basic search engine, with many more in development. The company has also expanded into many other countries and now hosts over 150 country website domains. It is continually growing and expanding and has a solid position as the world’s #1 search engine. It was also named the best company to work for in 2007 by Fortune magazine. Corporate Culture5 Even though their company has expanded considerably, Larry Page and Sergey Brin have apparently managed to maintain some of the same personal, small-company feel that they started off with. Likewise, despite the company’s move into the Googleplex, it still seems to have kept a corporate culture that refl ects its modest beginnings. Employees do not work in cubicles; instead they work in an open space where dogs and large rubber exercise balls are free to roam. They have a health-conscious company chef and host bi-weekly rollerblade hockey games in the parking lot. The founders host weekly “TGIF” meetings and promote a laid-back culture. The purpose of this is to create an ideal setting for innovative ideas to fl ow freely. The informal atmosphere makes this possible. Google’s internal structure is a standard corporate hierarchy, yet personnel try not to let hierarchy dominate their personal encounters. Everyone performs tasks outside of their specialty and position whenever needed. Core Values and Mission6 Google’s mission statement asserts that “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”7 The core message under the company’s code of conduct is that “being a Googler means holding yourself to the highest possible standard of ethical business conduct.”8 The company wants to be able to save its users time and frustration by making the information that the user is looking for readily available, without having to sift through tons of useless information. Not only does Google want to provide fast and effi cient service, but the company also wants to make its information available for everyone who has access to the internet; they want their product to be “universally accessible.” Also, the company claims not to want to make ethical sacrifi ces just in order to increase value for shareholders. The company has made it a priority not to sell high placement in search results to anyone and to show only non-fl ashy ads that are relevant to the user’s search query. 5 “The Google Culture”. Available from www.google.com. Accessed on Nov. 4, 2007. 6 “Our Philosophy”. Available from www.google.com. Accessed on Nov. 4, 2007. 7 “Company Overview”. Available from www.google.com. Accessed on Nov. 4, 2007. 8 “Google Code of Conduct”. Available from www.google.com. Accessed on Nov. 4, 2007. Case Studies in Ethics dukeethics.org4 China, Censorship, and the Golden Shield Project History China has been playing a game of catch-up in recent years, attempting to modernize and become a larger player in the global market. As it attempted, and eventually succeeded in, entering the World Trade Organization, China was forced to open its markets to foreign companies, granting “unprecedented access to the Chinese market.”9 During this period of increased foreign access, companies within China started demanding more advanced telecommunications, as well as modern infrastructure. The Chinese government agreed that modernization was necessary, and so quickly began to fi nance this modernization, making the nation one of “the world’s largest consumers of telecommunications equipment.”10 However, China’s acquisition of more modern forms of information technology leads not only to increased trade and communication fl ow out of the country, but into the country as well. The fl ow of information into the country is what concerns China’s Ministry of Public Service (hereafter referred to as MPS), whose responsibility statement says: The responsibilities of public security agencies in China