As a communist country, the Chinese government regulates what we’d call “freedom of information” to the point of outright censorship. Laws prohibit the company from displaying information about “sensitive” topics such as “Tiananmen Square,” or Web sites supporting Tibet’s independent movement two years ago. Such queries are banned from search results like those events never existed. To operate and do business within a country, one must conform to its rules and regulations.

That is, until this past weekend.

In January, Google published a statement on its company blog, informing users that cyber attacks on the company’s infrastructure “soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident — albeit a significant one — was something quite different.” “Dozens” of Gmail accounts of human rights and free speech activists continuously were targeted throughout a period of time, even in the United States and across Europe. Seeing such attacks were a clear breach of user security, the company took steps to “review (its) business operations within China.”

On Monday, Google gave those activists a voice. The company announced users of the Google.cn site would be redirected to Google.com.hk, a more “unrestricted” version of the site, based in Hong Kong. Google said the change was a perfectly legal maneuver that will help the company meet its goals of allowing every person — no matter what country — the ability to have the same sort of free flow of information. As of this writing, the Chinese government has intervened yet again and censored “sensitive results” though Google.com.hk and prohibited access to Web sites such as YouTube and Blogger outright for users in mainland China.

The Google-China controversy further sheds light on China’s appalling human rights record. Besides anti-government crackdowns and resisting a change in its communist economy, Chinese government officials continuously have limited free speech, but only time will tell whether or not those freedoms will be expanded. If “being evil” is a staple of Chinese governing, it is best for Google to not have any involvement whatsoever.

At the end of the day, no matter where on Earth the company is located, Google is a business whose only intention is to secure profits. But unlike some companies operating in China, Google has grown a spine during the span of time it has been located there. In 2002, Yahoo! turned over the name of a Chinese user who called for the end of communism and single-party rule on its blogging network. As an American company, Yahoo! clearly obeyed Chinese law and disregarded the fundamental human rights of its user. Although the company must abide by Chinese regulations, American values shouldn’t be compromised.

Google’s course of business in China sets an example for the free world: No government should act as gatekeeper of the Internet and its information. By doing so, a wealth of content that has the capability to enhance and enrich lives on a basis of education is artificially concealed to a segment of a large population. China’s slow and steady push into a free-market economy would only be benefited with increased access to the world’s information — general, common knowledge topics should be uncensored to the Chinese people and delivered with truth.

George Orwell famously wrote in his “1984” novel: “If all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’” As an information company whose slogan is “Don’t be evil,” Google cannot knowingly restrict its users to knowledge. Any restriction contradicts the overall mission. Companies that operate in China — American included — should take note of Google’s actions in recent days.

When our founding fathers inscribed free speech in the Bill of Rights, they were stating what should be true worldwide — free speech is a fundamental right.

Andrew Krietz is a State News intern. Reach him at krietzan@msu.edu.