Google Stops Censoring in China

In a very surprising turnaround indeed, it seems that Google has apparently decided it’s time to stick it to the man and has announced that it will no longer be censoring content in China.

Indeed, according to Google’s own blog on the subject indicates that the company is very much aware of the fact that it could be forced out of the Chinese market by such a decision, but has proceeded regardless. Indeed, according to the blog post from Google’s senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, Dave Drummond, it seems that the folks at Google are not only well aware of that potential outcome, but don’t seem too scared of it. Drummond also takes time to talk about what precipitated the move.

Opera Fixes Censorship Issue

Opera has moved to block a “loophole” that allowed for Chinese users of its mobile Opera Mini browser to view content that has been blocked by the latest update to the browser.

The latest version of Opera Mini was made available to Chinese users over the weekend, with users prompted to upgrade their version of the browser. According to the BBC, the upgrade to a Chinese version of Opera Mini also has the unexpected side-effect of stopping users from being able to access sites that are currently blocked by what’s become known jokingly as the “Great Firewall of China.”

According to a statement from Opera, the company issued the update for reasons more related to performance than anything censorship attached. Opera’s word on it has been fairly tactful, avoiding the issue altogether.