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Eleven employees, including engineers and managers at Google Alphabet Inc., have issued an open letter asking the company to stop the development of a censored search engine for Chinese users, by stepping up earlier protests against the secret project.
Photo: 123RF
Google described the search application, known as Project Dragonfly, as an experience that was not close to launch. But as details have been leaked since August, current and former employees, human rights advocates and US lawmakers have blamed Google for not opposing the Chinese government's policy more severely. aimed at blocking politically sensitive results.
The human rights group Amnesty International has also launched a petition asking Google to cancel Dragonfly. The organization said it would encourage Google workers to sign the petition by targeting them on LinkedIn and demonstrating in front of Google offices.
In August, about 1,400 of Google's 10,000 workers asked the company to improve the monitoring of ethically dubious businesses, including Dragonfly.
Google has long sought to be more present in China, the largest Internet market in the world. It needs government approval to compete with the country's major local Internet services.
Employees who signed their names on Tuesday's letter said they have seen little progress and expect more colleagues to publicly support Dragonfly's cancellation.
The letter expresses concern that the Chinese government is tracking dissidents with search data and suppressing the truth by limiting the content.
"We oppose technologies that help the powerful to oppress the vulnerable, wherever they are," said the employees in a letter published on the Medium blogging service.
Employees said that they no longer believed Google was "a company willing to place its values above profits," and cited a series of "disappointments" this year, including the recognition of a considerable gain for an officer accused of sexual harassment.
This incident triggered global protests at Google, which, like other major technology companies, has seen an increase in employee activism over the past two years as their services become integral part of the civic infrastructure.
Google was not immediately available to comment.
– Reuters
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