Google Sticks by Censorship Policy

An attempt to force Google to stop censoring its search results in repressive countries has been rejected by its shareholders. The office of the comptroller of New York City, which oversees New York City pension funds, proposed the motion at the search giant’s annual shareholder yesterday. It won support from Amnesty — one of many human rights groups who criticised the company in early 2006 for bowing to pressure from the Chinese government and censoring its search results in China. The motion also named Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam as countries where governments restrict access to Internet content. But Google’s top management, who cast 66% of its votes, did not support the plan, and thus it was rejected