Google, Skype, And A New Age Of Censorship

The book bans of fifty years ago which included “Catcher In The Rye” are distant memories. But censorship is not over. The Wall Street Journal has been banned in Singapore within the last five years. The local government said that some of its content was unreasonably anti-government, a decision that only the government can decide.

Censorship has recently become a more prominent part of the digital age. China has effectively banned Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) more than once. The Saudi Arabian government has gotten Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry security tools. India is now threatening RIM unless it provides similar code so that the government in the world’s second most populous nation can monitor communications that it deems criminal or a threat to the government. The FT recently reported that the Indian government will push Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Skype to “share” information that can be gathered from their customers inside the Indian borders.

Digital censorship poses the same kind of problems for the US government and multinational companies as currency manipulation and unequal trade practices do. America can pressure India and Saudi Arabia to accept more open principles of free speech which are alien to these governments. The question becomes what if any price the US is willing to pay to help its technology and internet companies to guard their business practices and revenue.

The attempt to impose rules on other sovereign nations whether they are for trade or censorship usually ends up the same way. There are trade reprisals and roadblocks to companies that need to do business in the nations that have offended American standards . It is a battle that the US government will not win because it is not willing to wage it with vigor and a disregard for its short-term economic interests. Free speech may be easy to defend at home, but to defend it outside US borders can be costly.

Would the US allow the yuan to keep its current valuation process in exchange for the People’s Republic’s agreement not to censor Google? No. Some prices are not worth paying no matter what

Douglas A. McIntyre