China Pressure on Google
could Block Online Gambling
 June
22 - Although still largely a communist state,
China has made huge strides in the last few years to become more
'westernized',
and proof of this can be seen in many of its largest cities
which boast high-tech skyscrapers and advertising billboards.
However,
when it comes to internet access for its citizens, this is still
a highly contentious area.
While the internet is widely available in the country,
access to certain content is closely monitored by the Chinese
government,
which is where the world's largest internet search engine,
Google, comes into the picture. The Chinese government
has reportedly 'warned' Google to block internet pornography in
the country.
As a result,
executives from the California-based search engine have met with
representatives of the Chinese government
to assure them that they will do everything to block
pornography-related search results. However,
there is now a growing fear that the Chinese may also clamp down
on online gambling content.
If the Chinese government can force Google to block one type of
search engine result,
there is nothing preventing them from blocking other content
perceived to be 'undesirable'.
And online gambling is unfortunately often included in that
category. Currently, the
Chinese online gambling market is extremely lucrative.
Google experienced the wrath of China late last week - for the
third time this year - when it was
reprimanded for 'disseminating large amounts of pornographic and
vulgar information'.
It seems that Chinese internet users were able to access
pornographic content by
conducting foreign language searches on Google.
China has its own Google service
which, from the outset, has always been more controlled and
'dumbed down'
than its western contemporaries. But this has not stopped
Chinese internet users from seeking out pornographic sites. In
fact, this year alone has seen
over 2000 Chinese-hosted porn sites shut down.
If the Chinese government gets fed up,
it could ban access to Google completely or at least block
access to those areas it deems 'going against the state',
which could include online gambling. It is for this reason that
the online gambling industry is
watching the Google/China developments very closely
indeed.
Right now
China has almost 300 million internet users,
and boasts the world's most extensive internet filtering system,
known by its nickname,
'the Great Firewall'.
It was designed to block access to politically sensitive
websites as well as pornography.
Up until now, online gambling has escaped largely unscathed.
|
|
|
