Google is calling on U.S. and foreign policymakers to incorporate Internet freedom in their diplomatic and trade negotiations, and charging that countries like China run afoul of their World Trade Organization obligations when they restrict access to content and services on the Web.
And Google, of course, is no stranger to skirmishes with China. For the first half of the year, the company was locked in a high-profile stand-off with Chinese authorities over Web censorship, a feud it seems willing to revisit with the publication of a new policy paper. Datamation has the story.
WASHINGTON — Google has leapt back into the international discussion over Internet freedom, releasing a lengthy policy paper alleging that governments that restrict access to online content are erecting trade barriers that impair the global economy.
In the paper (available here in PDF format), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) alleged that China has violated its obligations under the World Trade Organization, and called on the United States and its international partners to make Internet freedom a pillar of their trade policies.