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1. Google's Schmidt: encryption will thwart Chinese censors
Google's Schmidt: encryption will thwart Chinese censors | Security | News | PC Pro
Google's Schmidt: encryption will thwart Chinese censors
By Shona Ghosh
Gallery
Posted on 24 Jan 2014 at 11:37
Google chairman Eric Schmidt has claimed better encryption will help the company beat China's
strict censorship regime.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Schmidt said Google had improved encryption in
response to revelations of US government spying - and that this would boost the country's presence
in China and North Korea.
He also claimed- again - that social media would eventually help overcome government censorship.
"It is possible, within the next decade, using encryption, we would be able to open up countries that
have strict censorship laws... giving people a voice," Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal.
Google has a fraught relationship with China, after attempts to thwart the government's censorship
regime in 2010 resulted in the company moving its services from the mainland to Hong Kong.
In 2011, it blamed China for glitches in Gmail, while Schmidt has previously described the country
as a "menace" to online security.
"Eighty to 85% of industrial espionage is thought to be done by China," he said at Davos. "It's a real
problem. No other country comes close."
Schmidt added that Google still kept a close eye on China's activities.
Unfounded
This isn't the first time Schmidt has predicted the end of censorship, claiming that power is
increasingly shifting to users with the rise of social media.
But rights activists have pointed out that Chinese censorship is, in fact, getting worse. A November
communiqu? from China's party leaders suggested the government plans to take a tough stance
against services such as WeChat and Twitter.
"I don't think Mr. Schmidt knows what he's talking about," said Jillian York, the international
freedom of expression director for EFF, speaking to PC Pro in November. "Not only is Chinese
censorship increasing, but so is censorship in most of the Middle East, plenty of Southeast Asia, and
so forth."

2. At the time, York conceded that encryption could help, but said Schmidt's predictions were
optimistic. "While it's true that circumvention technology is becoming more widespread, allowing
more people to get around internet filters, Mr. Schmidt's claim that 'censorship will end in a decade'
is entirely unfounded," she said.
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