Google’s China search engine requires more 'transparency, oversight and accountability'

Google’s plan to launch a censored search engine in China requires more “transparency, oversight and accountability,” hundreds of employees at the Alphabet Inc unit said in an internal petition seen by Reuters on Thursday. They are concerned that by agreeing to censorship demands, Google would validate China’s prohibitions on free expression and violate the “don’t be evil” clause in the company’s code of conduct. The latest petition says employees are concerned the China project, code named Dragonfly, “makes clear” that ethics principles Google issued during the drone debate “are not enough.” “We urgently need more transparency, a seat at the table and a commitment to clear and open processes: Google employees need to know what we’re building,” states the document seen by Reuters. Three former employees involved with Google’s past efforts in China told Reuters current leadership may see offering limited search results in China as better than providing no information at all.