NEW YORK—Search engine giant Google is rumored to have lifted restrictions on its Chinese search engine on Tuesday.
MSNBC reported that “web sites dealing with subjects such as the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, Tibet and regional independence movements” could be searched and accessed through Google.cn, the Chinese search engine that Google provides for its mainland Chinese users.
NBC reported that while “searches proved erratic” and that access to some websites was occasionally denied, changes compared to just six months ago were significantly different.
The Epoch Times performed their own independent search for keywords related to the highly sensitive Tiananmen Square Massacre topic and the found the photo and associated search elements to be accessible.
The Epoch Times also found that a search for “Falun Gong,” the meditation practice that is being persecuted by the Communist regime in China, resulted in one image showing a photo of anti-torture exhibits held by Falun Gong adherents around the world to raise awareness of the persecution. A link to Tian Ti Books, which sells Falun Gong books to the public, also showed up in the top of the search results, but the official websites for Falun Gong were not visible on search results.
Searches for keywords related to the Tiananmen Square massacre shot up on Google’s search engines following NBC’s news report. Most of the keywords were in Chinese.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said at a press event last week in Abu Dhabi that “something will happen soon” but did not provide additional details.
The Chinese regime has insisted that Google follow its laws. It finally responded in public earlier this month, and last Friday, China’s industry minister issued a similar statement. The regime has also warned Google’s business partners that regardless of Google’s decision, they would still have to follow the Communist Party’s laws on Internet censorship.
Google has yet to re-apply for the ICP (Internet Content Provider) license in China, which is required by companies to operate a website inside mainland China, and this has further stoked rumors. The ICP license has to be renewed annually, with the deadline being the end of March.
MSNBC reported that “web sites dealing with subjects such as the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, Tibet and regional independence movements” could be searched and accessed through Google.cn, the Chinese search engine that Google provides for its mainland Chinese users.
NBC reported that while “searches proved erratic” and that access to some websites was occasionally denied, changes compared to just six months ago were significantly different.
The Epoch Times performed their own independent search for keywords related to the highly sensitive Tiananmen Square Massacre topic and the found the photo and associated search elements to be accessible.
The Epoch Times also found that a search for “Falun Gong,” the meditation practice that is being persecuted by the Communist regime in China, resulted in one image showing a photo of anti-torture exhibits held by Falun Gong adherents around the world to raise awareness of the persecution. A link to Tian Ti Books, which sells Falun Gong books to the public, also showed up in the top of the search results, but the official websites for Falun Gong were not visible on search results.
Searches for keywords related to the Tiananmen Square massacre shot up on Google’s search engines following NBC’s news report. Most of the keywords were in Chinese.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said at a press event last week in Abu Dhabi that “something will happen soon” but did not provide additional details.
The Chinese regime has insisted that Google follow its laws. It finally responded in public earlier this month, and last Friday, China’s industry minister issued a similar statement. The regime has also warned Google’s business partners that regardless of Google’s decision, they would still have to follow the Communist Party’s laws on Internet censorship.
Google has yet to re-apply for the ICP (Internet Content Provider) license in China, which is required by companies to operate a website inside mainland China, and this has further stoked rumors. The ICP license has to be renewed annually, with the deadline being the end of March.
