In an effort to penetrate a potentially profitable Chinese market, Google is working on “Dragonfly,” a custom-designed search engine which would enforce the communist government’s censorship policies.
The Intercept cited Google documents and anonymous sources in a report that indicated Dragonfly would likely blacklist human rights-related search strings related to human rights, religion, and civil protest. News and information sources like the BBC and Wikipedia would also be unavailable to Chinese surfers.
Business Insider reported that a whistleblower cited ethical concerns came forward to rip the lid off the project. Amnesty International called Google’s acceptance of harsh Chinese rules “a gross attack on freedom of information and internet freedom.”
Speaking to Business Insider, a Google rep said the search giant already provides “a number of mobile apps in China, such as Google Translate and Files Go, help Chinese developers, and have made significant investments in Chinese companies like JD.com. But we don’t comment on speculation about future plans.”
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