Google may pull out of China

In what could be termed as the turn of the table or maybe the most sensational news in Internet industry, one business giant has threatened a communist giant that it will switch off its operation if they continue to interfere in its business by means of hacking and censorship. Yes, the business giant here is Google, the king of Internet, and the communist giant is China, the ruthless still perhaps the most powerful country in the world after the US, and so the tug of war that is being played here is keenly watched across the globe because the result of the war may almost change the Internet industry or the people outcry in China may almost destabilize the most powerful communist government in the world. If Google has to pull out of China that means Google will be losing about 335 million Internet users that is more than the entire population of the United States that means Facebook, Yahoo, and Windows Live will start vying for the top position on Internet and Google might lose its numero uno position on the Internet which it has maintained for over a decade. What it also means that if Chinese government bans Google subsidiaries like Youtube, Blogger, Gmail, etc., in retaliation, Google might end up losing almost 50% of its user base. The local Chinese search engine Baidu may become the uncrowned king in China and perhaps start trying to expand its base outside of China also.

But, we must congratulate Google to show the guts to take on the mighty China, which perhaps no other country in the last 50 years have dared to do. Even if the Chinese government mercilessly massacred more than 3000 students and intellectuals at Tiananman Square in 1989, the biggest messiah of human rights in the world, The United States, could not dare to take any action against China. Even if they keep using their army in Tibet for suppressive actions, no country in the world dares to speak against China, and now Google has openly threatened China to pull out is something that Google must be given a pat on its back. Here is a business giant that does not have any arms power is threatening a country that has the biggest army in the world. Just wait and watch for things to unfold, Google versus China, maybe some Hollywood biggies would have secretly started writing scripts on what may turn out be the biggest war after the World War II where no arms will be used but still millions of people will be affected and may change the Internet industry forever.

Have your say on "Should Google pull out of China?" and "Is China right in using hacking and censorship to suppress Google?"

© 2010 Ranjan Kumar