Google In China

1. What philosophical principle did Google’s managers adopt when deciding that the benefits of operations in China outweigh the costs? I think that Google’s managers adopted a Utilitarian philosophy when deciding that the benefits of operations in China outweighed the costs. I think this way because of the fact that they took the time to weigh out the pros and the cons of the situation and ultimately chose the option which was more advantageous.

2. Do you think that Google should have entered China and engaged in self-censorship, given the company’s long-standing mantra “Don’t be evil’? Is it better to engage in self-censorship than have the government censor you? I do not think that Google should have entered China and engaged in self-censorship because they had gone against the way that they had long operated. The normally focused on the concept of “Don’t be evil,” and the entering of China has shown that Google did not stand behind their mantra. I am a bit torn in regards to the second question regarding whether or not it is better to engage in self-censorship than have the government censor things. I think that self-censorship can lead to problems in that it may emphasize certain bias and may share information that should not really be shared; however, I think that censoring done by the government is also problematic because they can withhold information that we all deserve to know.

3. If all foreign search engine companies declined to invest directly in China due to concerns over censorship, what do you think the results would be? Who would benefit most from this action? Who would lose the most? I think that Baidu, China’s homegrown company, would most definitely benefit if all foreign search engine companies declined to invest directly in China due to concerns over censorship. Those who would lose the most from an occurrence like this would be the Chinese people who would then not have access to as much information as they could have. I do not see something like this ever happening however because of the fact that companies like Google would not want to let go of a market that offers so much opportunity for growth and profit.