Google agrees to censor searches in China

Google has agreed to censor searches by the estimated 111 million internet users in China, following the lead given by its main competitors.

The world's biggest internet search engine, Google, has agreed to censor searches by the estimated 111 million internet users in China, following the lead given by its main competitors, the company said on Wednesday.

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Google on Wednesday officially launched a new www.google.cn site that plans to filter out or block links to material likely to be considered politically sensitive by China's ruling Communist Party.

"This has been a very difficult decision for us," a Google executive told DPA.

"In order to operate from China, we have removed some content from the search results available on Google.cn, in response to local law, regulation or policy," Google said in a statement.

The move drew condemnation from rights groups, with the Free Tibet Campaign saying it had complained to Google that searches relating to China's disputed Tibet region were blocked.

"Google is endorsing censorship and repression," Alison Reynolds said in a statement from the Free Tibet Campaign.

"This also further contradicts political leaders who attempt to convince us that foreign business can change China for the better; here is just one more example of where China has changed foreign business for the worse," Reynolds said.

The "Free Tibet Campaign" said it had protested to Google about its service "Google Earth." It said the phrase "Lhasa, Tibet," for example, produces no results in the search engine, while "Lhasa, China" is accepted.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders accused Google of "hypocrisy."