«Breaking News» Google has 'no plans' to launch Chinese search engine -CEO

Google has 'no plans' to relaunch a search engine in China though it is continuing to study the idea, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told a U.S. congressional panel on Tuesday amid increased scrutiny of big tech firms.

Lawmakers and Google employees have raised concerns the company would comply with China's internet censorship and surveillance policies if it re-enters the Asian nation's search engine market.

Google's main search platform has been blocked in China since 2010, but the Alphabet Inc unit has been attempting to make new inroads into the country, which has the world's largest number of smartphone users.

Scroll down for video 

Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told a U.S. congressional panel Google had over 100 people working on the project at one point. 

'Right now, there are no plans to launch search in China,' Pichai told the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

But he added that internally Google has 'developed and looked at what search could look like. We´ve had the project underway for a while. At one point, we´ve had over 100 people working on it is my understanding.'

Pichai said there are no current discussions with the Chinese government. 

He vowed that he would be 'fully transparent' with policymakers if the company brings search products to China.

In a letter in August to U.S. lawmakers, Pichai said providing such a search engine would give 'broad benefits' to China but that it was unclear whether Google could launch the service there.

A Chinese government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters last month that it was unlikely Google would get clearance to launch a search service in 2019.

Pichai did not say what steps Google would take to comply with Chinese laws if it re-entered the market.

WHAT IS GOOGLE'S 'PROJECT DRAGONFLY' SEARCH ENGINE?

'Dragonfly' is a rumoured effort inside Google to develop a search engine for China that would censor certain terms and news outlets, among other things.

Reports claim the tool ties users' Google searches to their personal phone numbers to help the Chinese government monitor its citizens.

Outside of high-profile leaks, few details have emerged on what the search engine entails as Google has kept tight-lipped on the project.

A former Google employee warned of the web giant's 'disturbing' plans in a letter sent to the US's senate's commerce committee in August.

Jack Poulson said the proposed Dragonfly website was 'tailored to the censorship and surveillance demands of the Chinese government'.

In his letter he also claimed that discussion of the plans among Google employees had been 'increasingly stifled'.

Mr Poulson was a senior research scientist at Google until he resigned in July 2018 in protest at the Dragonfly proposals.

Under questioning from Democratic Representative David Cicilline, Pichai said he would 'happy to engage' to discuss legislation that would empower the Federal Trade Commission to address discriminatory conduct online.

Cicilline told Pichai it was 'hard for me to imagine that you could operate in the Chinese market under the current government framework and maintain a commitment to universal values, such as freedom of expression and personal privacy.'

The company's rivals in shopping and travel searches have long complained about being demoted in Google search results.

Much of the House hearing focused on Republican concerns that Google's search results are biased against conservatives and that the company had sought to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats rejected that claim as 'fantasy,' and at least one said the search results highlighted more conservative voices.

Pichai said the search engine attempts to help people register to vote or find a polling place, but rejected assertions the company paid for Latino voters' transportation to polls in some states.

'We don't engage in partisan activities,' Pichai told the panel. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Paresh Dave Editing by Will Dunham and Paul Simao)

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/12/google-has-no-plans-to-launch-chinese-search-engine-ceo/
Main photo article Google has ‘no plans’ to relaunch a search engine in China though it is continuing to study the idea, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told a U.S. congressional panel on Tuesday amid increased scrutiny of big tech firms.
Lawmakers and Google employees have raised concerns the company...

It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.

Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.

Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca





https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/11/23/7308360-6484615-image-a-1_1544570432114.jpg