Employees say Google must abandon the research project censored Dragonfly

Google employees are taking a step forward to protest Dragonfly, a controversial research project aimed at the Chinese market that could help the country's government track research.

More than 200 Google employees, mostly software engineers, joined the Amnesty International organization on Tuesday to issue a letter asking the managing director, Sundar Pichai, to cancel the project. Google did not talk much about Dragonfly, but the project would bring a censored search engine to China and link users' search queries to their phone numbers, making it easier for the Chinese government to track research.

"Our opposition to Dragonfly does not concern China: we oppose technologies that help the powerful to oppress the most vulnerable, wherever they are," said the employees in their letter. "Dragonfly in China would set a dangerous precedent at an unstable political moment, preventing Google from denying other countries similar concessions."

A Google spokesman said about the project: "We have been investing for many years to help Chinese users, from the development of Android to mobile applications such as Google Translate and Files Go, and to our development tools." our work on research has been exploratory and we are about to launch a research product in China. "

"A brick in the Chinese firewall"

Amnesty International also demonstrated in front of Google offices around the world, including San Francisco, Berlin, Toronto and London.

"We call Google employees to accompany us," said Amy Gordon, an Amnesty International member who had staged the protest in San Francisco, in front of one of Google's offices in the city. "We believe Google should be fighting for an Internet where information is freely available to everyone."

Gordon, accompanied by two other protesters from Amnesty International, waved dragonfly kites and placards saying, "Do what it takes, Sundar Pichai."

In Berlin, protesters waved placards saying "Hey Google, do not be a brick in the Chinese firewall."

Google has been rocked in recent months by reports on the Dragonfly project, eight years after his retirement from the country. At that time, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who grew up in the Soviet Union, cited the "totalitarianism" of Chinese politics.

The new event is not the first time that Google staff has criticized the Dragonfly project. A handful of employees reportedly abandoned the initiative and about 1,000 employees signed an open letter asking the company to be transparent about the project. The letter called for the creation of a review process that included core employees, not just senior management.

Google did little to recognize Dragonfly. However, in September, Keith Enright, Google's privacy officer, confirmed at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce that the project existed, but did not elaborate.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in October that Google could never launch the search engine.

A Google employee who was approached by Amnesty International protesters in San Francisco, however, said she supported the Dragonfly project. "China needs Google," said Dan, who asked that his last name not be used. Dan, who said he came from China, said the country's dominant search engine, Baidu, was not an appropriate alternative.

Nevertheless, she understands the concern for censorship. "The best option is an uncensored Google," she said. "But unless you change the government, there are compromises."

Another protest

Google's appetite for protest has been particularly strong recently. Earlier this year, 20,000 Google employees and contractors left corporate offices around the world to protest the treatment of sexual harassment complaints against key executives.

Employees also rejected Google's decision to obtain lucrative military contracts. The workers challenged the company's decision to take part in the Maven Project, an initiative of the Defense Department aimed at developing a better AI for the US military. More than 4,000 employees reportedly signed a petition to Pichai asking him to cancel the project. In June, Google announced that it would not renew the Maven contract nor would it pursue similar contracts.

"Google is too powerful not to be held responsible," staff said in Tuesday's letter. "We deserve to know what we are building and we deserve to have a voice in these important decisions."

The full letter is below:

We are employees of Google. Google must drop Dragonfly.

We are employees of Google and we join Amnesty International by calling Google to cancel the Dragonfly project, Google's effort to create a censored search engine for the Chinese market that allows surveillance by the state.

We are among thousands of employees who have raised our voices for months. International human rights organizations and investigative reporters have also sounded the alarm, highlighting serious human rights concerns and calling on many people to take action. Google repeated to cancel the project. Until now, the response of our leaders has not been satisfactory.

Our opposition to Dragonfly does not concern China: we oppose technologies that help the powerful to oppress the most vulnerable, wherever they are. The Chinese government is certainly not the only one willing to interfere with freedom of expression and use surveillance to suppress dissent. Dragonfly in China would set a dangerous precedent at an unstable political moment, preventing Google from denying other countries similar concessions.

The decision of our company comes as the Chinese government openly expands its surveillance powers and its tools of control of the population. Many of them rely on cutting-edge technologies and combine online activity, personal recordings and mass surveillance to track and profile citizens. Reports already show who bears the costs, including Uyghurs, women's rights advocates and students. Providing the Chinese government with quick access to user data, as required by Chinese law, would make Google complicit in oppression and human rights violations.

The dragonfly would also allow censorship and misinformation led by the government and destabilize the truth on which popular deliberation and dissent lie. Given the crackdown on dissent by the Chinese government, such controls would likely be used to silence marginalized people and promote information that favors the interests of the government.

Many of us have accepted a job at Google keeping in mind the values ​​of the company, including its previous position on Chinese censorship and surveillance, and understanding that Google was a company willing to place its values ​​above its profits. After a year of disappointment, including the Maven project, Dragonfly and Google's support for the abusers, we no longer think it is. That's why we take a stand.

We join Amnesty International in demanding that Google cancel Dragonfly. We also demand that leaders commit to transparency, clear communication and real responsibility. Google is too powerful not to be held responsible. We deserve to know what we are building and we deserve to have a voice in these important decisions.

Marrian Zhou from CNET contributed to this report.

First publication 21h58 PT.
Updated, 12:52 PT: Adds details of a protest in front of one of Google's offices in San Francisco.

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