Internet oppression doomed to failure
Eric Schmidt, chief executive of
Google, has issued a stern warning against governments hoping to suppress public access to the internet. Speaking at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, Schmidt said that any government effort to block websites would ultimately fail.
“We explain if they do this [block freedom of speech and communication] what will happen. Sometimes they moderate their behaviour and sometimes not. If they don't listen to us, it is at their peril,” he commented
Schmidt’s comments come after an extended period of political unrest in Iran. It is estimated that 20 Iranians have been killed in protests disputing the validity of the 23 June presidential election. Government officials have attempted to limit internet access across the country – blocking international news websites and social media portals – in an effort to prevent footage and reports of the protests appearing online.
Schmidt added:
“Governments around the world, even democratically elected, have difficulty with [the flow of] information online. Dictatorships and closed communities one after the other will try and shut down communication from inside. Strategies governments use trying to shut down people's speech are terrible strategies and will not succeed."
Access to Google blocked in China
Meanwhile, some internet users in China were unable to use Google for a short period last week after access to the site was disrupted due to government censorship. The incident, which saw users blocked from the search engine, was the result of an ongoing dispute over content available through the site.
A spokesperson from the Chinese foreign ministery said:
“We have found that Google has spread a lot of pornographic content, which is a serious violation of Chinese laws and regulations.”
Google has reported that it is investigating the outage to its service.
