NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th August, 2018) Google must abandon its plans to develop a censored search engine for the Chinese market and should instead protect whistle-blowers who are concerned about the project's implications, Human Rights Watch said in an open letter to the company's top executives on Tuesday.
"We are calling on Google to publicly commit to protect whistle-blowers in the company and to take immediate steps to address the concerns employees have raised about Project Dragonfly," Human Rights Watch said, referring to the company's reported plans to develop a new censored search engine for China.
The rights groups noted that China's government participates in frequent violations of freedoms of speech and expression, adding that Google would be actively participating in those abuses if it goes ahead with plans to introduce the censored search engine.
Google publicly exited the Chinese market in 2010, citing concerns of repression of freedom of expression online. But media reports emerged earlier this year, saying that the company may be developing a censored search engine to re-enter the Chinese market. The project has been dubbed "Dragonfly."
The letter also underlined the need for Google to protect the whistle-blowers who leak information on Project Dragonfly's development and called on the US company to address their concerns.
