Google Inc released a new online tool on Tuesday that shows where the Internet giant’s services and products, such as YouTube, are being blocked around the world.
“We believe that this kind of transparency can be a deterrent to censorship,” Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond said.
“When Google’s services are blocked or filtered, we can’t serve our users effectively,” Drummond said in a blog post. “That’s why we act every day to maximize free expression and access to information.”
He said the new tool, which is called Transparency Report and located at google.com/transparencyreport, will “allow people to see where governments are demanding that we remove content and where Google services are being blocked.”
Drummond said it will help show whether traffic disruptions in services and products, such as Google Search, Google Earth, Google Maps, Google News and YouTube “are related to mechanical outages or are government-induced.”
“By showing outages, the traffic graphs visualize disruptions in the free flow of information, whether it’s a government blocking information or a cable being cut,” he said.
The Transparency Report shows that YouTube has been blocked in Iran, for example, since June 12 last year, following the country’s disputed presidential election.
Google already maintains such a tool for its services and products in China, which has blocked YouTube since March last year and criticized the Mountain View, California-based company over its refusal to censor Web search results.
Drummond said the separate tool, the “Mainland China service availability chart,” is being shut down and China will now be integrated into the list of countries whose traffic is being monitored using the Transparency Report.
Google on Tuesday also updated another online tool, Government Requests, that shows how often governments around the world ask the search giant for information about users or ask that it take down or censor content.
In launching the interactive online map in April, Google said it would be updated in six-month increments.
The latest period covers January to June this year and now includes figures on the percentage of demands that Google has complied with — if not details of the actual requests.
The US, for example, tops the list with 4,287 requests for data and 128 removal requests. Google said 82.8 percent of the removal requests had been “fully or partially complied with.”
There were 2,435 data requests from Brazil and 398 removal requests, 67.6 percent of which were fully or partially complied with. Google said most had to do with the Google-owned social network Orkut, which is popular in Brazil.
India was next with 1,430 data requests and 30 removal requests, 53.3 percent of which were fully or partially complied with.
Google also said that China is not listed among the countries on the Government Requests page.
“Chinese officials consider censorship demands as state secrets, so we cannot disclose that information at this time,” Google said.
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
WAIT-AND-SEE: Last month’s consumer price index came in at 2.8%, which boosts expectations that the Fed would proceed cautiously to lower inflation sustainably The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this week, treading carefully amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which include spending cuts and sweeping tariffs. Since January, Trump has imposed levies on major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, and on steel and aluminum imports, roiling financial markets and fanning fears that his plans could tip the world’s biggest economy into a recession. The Trump administration has also embarked on unprecedented cost-cutting efforts that target staff and spending, while the US president has promised tax reductions and deregulation down the road. However,
RSS