Several US lawmakers today came out in support of internet search engine giant Google and condemned China for trying to breach into the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, commended Google for taking action in response to cyber attacks originating from China targeting Chinese human rights advocates, and the intellectual property and corporate data of Google and more than 30 other companies.
Citing assaults from hackers on its computer systems and China's attempts to "limit free speech on the Web", Google in a statement said on Tuesday it would stop cooperating with Chinese Internet censorship and consider shutting down its operations in China.
"The announcement that Google will fully review its business operations in China and will no longer tolerate censorship of its search engine should serve as an example to businesses and governments," Pelosi said. "The Chinese government operates one of the most sophisticated operations in the world to control the Internet.
It is essential that technology companies not assist in efforts that violate human rights or prohibit the free exchange of ideas," she said.
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Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman said Google has provided an enormous service to internet users the world over by publicly sharing news of attacks it says came from inside China against its Gmail users.
"As a nation and as individuals, we are vulnerable to cyber attack from hackers, predators, foreign competitors, and terrorists who would compromise, steal, or cripple our cyber systems and the information that courses through them. Educating internet users of these threats and vulnerabilities is key to thwarting such attacks," Senator Lieberman said.
"Google's experience should be a lesson to us all to confront this ever-growing problem aggressively and with all available means," the Senator said, adding that his Committee has been concerned about the security of federal systems for more than a decade, and he is now drafting comprehensive legislation to strengthen our national cyber security architecture.
Meanwhile, Freedom House commended Google's decision to contest internet censorship by the Chinese authorities, despite the distinct possibility that this action will result in the closure of its operations in China.
Google is taking this action in the face of what the company described as a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on (its) corporate infrastructure originating from China."
"It is believed this attack was aimed at accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
The cyber attacks on Google's operations fit a clear pattern of internet censorship and interference," said Jennifer Windsor, executive director at Freedom House. "They are part of a vast, multi-layered system the Chinese Government uses to censor, monitor and manipulate how Chinese citizens use the internet," she said.
"Google's decision to end its filtering activities was the right thing to do and we hope that other companies follow suit and refrain from being complicit in the repressive activities of the Chinese government," said Daniel Calingaert, deputy director of programs at Freedom House. "And we look to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her upcoming speech on internet freedom, to outline a strategy to address the entire system of internet control in China and the global threat to free expression online," Calingaert said.