1. I. Name Ahmad Atiq
ACSG575
Essay #1 – Analyzing Google’s censorship in China
II. Introduction
Google has a history of being a company that is transparent in its own privacy
agreements as well as the privacy laws that we all have to adhere to here in the United States.
The main issue that we are facing now is how Google is handing its own stake in the Chinese
market. As we all know China has a vast population that is online. As a company that does
business on the internet China is a goldmine. The Chinese market is an excellent market to get
involved with. The monetary profit that one can make by having a stake in the Chinese market
would skyrocket the company’s revenue as a whole. On the reverse side of this issue China has a
censorship law that was put in place by the government. This law puts a complete restriction on
the internet. The “Great Firewall of China” allows the government to block anything they deem
“forbidden.” Since Google is a company that believes being completely transparent in all of its
actions they face an interesting dilemma. The only way they are going to get a part of the
Chinese market is to completely follow all laws of the Chinese government. This includes the
internet censorship law. Is Google doing the right thing by setting up in China? What moral
boundaries are being crosses as Google competes for a major stake in Chinese business? We will
address these issues later, but first we must establish what is at stake.
III. Stakeholders
One of the main stakeholders of this situation is the people of China. As of right now the
Chinese government has a stranglehold on what information flows in and what information flows

2. out. The people of China have the right to be free. They should be able to freely choose what
websites they can view and what websites they can share with as well. They moral values that
are at stake for the people of China are privacy. Google is another major stakeholder. They have
monetary gains to be made if they comply with the Chinese government. As a business, you
always want to be moving into new markets and generating more profit. Google also has their
personal reputation at stake. Since Google is known as a company that promotes the motto,
“Don’t be evil.” Are they going against what they believe in by entering the Chinese market?
Google employees are also major stake holders in this ethical situation. What if certain
employees are morally against the idea of entering the Chinese market? How does this affect
their job status with Google? The Chinese Government has something at stake as well. If they
allow Google in they risk the chance of information possibly leaking out to the public that they
do not want them to see. They also draw attention on themselves from the world media since
Google is a media monster.
IV. The Technology issues to be disclosed
The main technology issues that are important in this ethical situation is the use of
Google’s search engine to query meaningful data. What this means is Google is a free service to
all people. Google allows one to query it, and then it returns meaningful information on what
was searched. In China, one might search a certain topic that the Government considers
“forbidden” and Google’s search service would not return what is needed. In fact, it was
mentioned in the article that Google would completely block certain searches from returning
anything. Google offered to even have a Google news services for China, but it would only
include government approved information. So let’s say the Chinese government puts false
information on Google news. Now we have Google an American based company spreading false

3. information, controlling data, and censoring the truth. Even though they themselves are not doing
it they are still submitting to the Chinese Government, and allowing them to manipulate there
data. Is the monetary reward really worth people’s personal values?
V. The moral issues to be considered
The most significant moral issue at play is the issue of privacy and personal freedom.
Google is moving into a market that obviously does not value these things. If they did then the
Chinese government would never censor and control information like they are currently doing.
Everyone at Google knows what is going on in China yet they are agreeing to some core evil
principles they claim that they are completely against. The people of China are being stripped of
their personal freedom to not only share, but view information deemed “forbidden.” As for the
issue of privacy it is certainly not a farfetched idea that the Chinese government could request
Google to send over certain peoples search queries or request personal information like an IP
address. This could severally cause issues for bloggers that actually share and discuss relative
information. The constant worry of being arrested and tried is more than enough to raise question
to the true motives of Google. How can a company who says, “Don’t be evil” move into and
agree to certain principles because they believe that the monetary value of the market is worth it.
Is Google putting a price on people’s personal freedoms, and using them as a means to the end?
Google is really risking the company’s personal reputation by moving into such a controversial
market.
VI. Utilitarian analysis
From strictly a Utilitarian view point a Utilitarian would look purely at what maximizes
benefits for the majority. A Utilitarian would argue that Google should open a market in China

4. because the good from them doing it completely outweighs the bad. The Chinese government
already is censoring things regardless if Google is present or not. If Google goes into China the
amount of money they can make from this market is unimaginable. This also can create more
jobs for people, and that allows people to have money and a means of support. This can also help
both the American and Chinese economies as well. Google also is offering a free search service
to the people of China. As the article states previous to Google entering China they were limited
in what search services they could use. The normal google.com kicked back slow search times
and sometimes incomplete results to queries that were acceptable by the Government. Even if
some content is blocked by the government not everything will be, and the benefits of being able
to research things more effectively on the internet using a proper search engine is worthwhile.
The amount of jobs created from Google going to China for both American’s and Chinese is also
an added incentive. Also, if Google has close ties with the Chinese Government who knows how
much of a positive influence they could have on them. This could in turn include removing some
of the censored information. As a consequence of Google entering the Chinese market and the
amount of people that benefit outweighs the bad a Utilitarian would agree to move into the
market.
VII. Deontological Analysis
The deontological school of thought would not want Google to enter China. Google has a
duty to stay true to itself and its motto, “Don’t be evil”. This means that Google should not join
in and promote “evil” activities. If Google joins forces with the Chinese Government then it
would be even easier for the Chinese government to control information completely. Since
Google would probably be the main search engine this means everyone would use it. Regardless
of the amount of money, or good Google could bring to China they are obligated and have a duty

5. to not give up anymore peoples personal freedoms to the Chinese Government. A pure
deontological analysis would reveal that the motive is not a pure and good one itself. Regardless
of the good consequences of Google going into China a deontologist would not go into the
country because they aren’t concerned with the possible good consequences. We are more
concerned with the motive of the action itself. The act of Google going into China goes
completely against the duty of being an American company that is peace, freedom, and
democracy loving.
VIII. Virtue
In virtue ethics they would approach it in the sense that they would not want Google to
go into China. Google would be compromising its character if it did so. Virtue ethics is more
concerned with the character of the actors rather then what the outcome would be. They would
come to this conclusion based off the fact that the Chinese government is violating personal
freedoms that everyone is born with. These freedoms are freedoms that no man made agency can
take away. One of the main vices in this situation is greed. It would seem that Google is allowing
greed to overtake its previous good judgment. The Greed to expand into a larger market is
starting to weigh heavily into decisions that affect human beings. Google is a company that is
supposed to be transparent in its actions. So why would a company who bases its morals off
these principles then decide to go into a market that completely goes against its very core ideals
and fall victim to a vice?
IX. Conclusion
I came up with different conclusions between both theories. I personally identify more
with the Deontological theory more than the Utilitarian theory. I believe that since Google is an

6. American based company, and as Americans we enjoy the right to freedom we should not have
an American company go into a country that does not believe in the same core values as we do.
It would seem to me that Google is thinking more about the money than the people who will be
affected by such a controlling Government. It’s very apparent the amount of money one would
make when entering such a large and rich Chinese market. We already know of Yahoo following
suite and coming under fire for actually handing over information to the Chinese Government
about journalist in China. This just shows the pure greed of certain corporations that value
money over human lives. As Americans why would we want to profit on such an evil premise? I
believe this is going against everything we stand for as a nation, and it disrespects everyone who
has struggled to gain freedom.