Google Pulling Out of China in the Name of Free Speech?

Google announced today that it would no longer censor its Chinese search engine—even if it means Google has to pull out of China.  Mashable reports that Google has decided to reevaluate its presence in China.  Google has taken a stand against censorship that could have global implications.

The latest conflict between the Chinese government and the search engine giant is because of a recent attack targeting Chinese human rights activists.  According to Mashable:

Google (Google) outlined in rather striking detail a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” that occurred last month, targeting around 20 companies. In its investigation, the search giant found that the attackers’ primary objective was accessing Gmail (Gmail) accounts of Chinese human rights activists. It also found that dozens of other Gmail accounts owned by human rights activists worldwide were compromised, most likely due to phishing scams or malware.

Google wouldn’t say it, but implications are that the Chinese government had something to do with these attacks.

Check out the Mashable post about Google and China.