Inside Googleโs effort to develop a censored search engine in China โThe Intercept
What happened: More information has been revealed on Googleโs secret search platform for China under the code name Dragonfly. The search engine already has a functioning version but the more interesting part of it is that the project is being carried out as part of a โjoint ventureโ with a company thatโs most likely based in China. That company may be TencentโGoogle has signed an agreement with the Chinese tech giant in January. Aside from the possible Tencent link, the report also found that Google has been working with sampled search queries from 265.com, a Chinese-language web directory service based in Beijing and owned by Google. The site was likely used as a honeypot for Chinese usersโ search data.
Why itโs important: The backlash against Googleโs project has already begun not only among Googleโs staff but also among US government representatives as six senators are asking Google CEO Sundar Pichai to explain its link to Tencent. Google has so far refused to comment on any of the news. Meanwhile, reports on Google reentering China has been mysteriously appearing and disappearing from Chinese media.
