Growing Internet Censorship Around The World

[cthulhu_waves]

Stephen Yagielowicz reports that in a recent Google study, more and more countries are are blocking out Google's product and services.

Should we be concerned about this? Or is this a ploy from Google to make us more open to their new strategies?

LOS ANGELES — A new report from Google illustrates the rapid growth of Internet censorship, with the revelation that its products and services have been blocked by 25 percent of the countries in which they are offered.

In a post on Google's official blog, entitled, "Controversial content and free expression on the web: a refresher," Rachel Whetstone, vice president of global communications and public affairs, outlined the company's approach to censoring content on Google services, in response to questions surrounding the search giant's removal of restrictions on Chinese queries through its Google.cn portal.

"Censorship of the web is a growing problem," Whetstone wrote. "According to the Open Net Initiative, the number of governments that censor has grown from about four in 2002 to over 40 today."

Read the entire article at http://www.xbiz.com/news/119762.