Google and China are again at odds, this time with accusations by Google that China is interfering with Gmail. Internet users in China have reported difficulties with Gmail over the last few weeks, complaining that the email service is slow or unavailable.
While it’s been made to look as though it’s a technical problem on Google’s end, the search engine giant says that the Chinese government is responsible. “There is no technical issue on our side. We have checked extensively,” says a Google spokesperson. “This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.”
The Guardian contends that the move by the Chinese government may be a response to the “Jasmine Revolution” – an online effort to spur pro-democracy efforts in China following the uprisings in the Middle East.
Whatever the motivation, it isn’t the first time that Google and China have run into problems with each other. In January of last year, Google accused China of launching hacking attacks, an effort purportedly to gain access to the accounts of Chinese dissidents.
The issues with Gmail make it the latest Google product that cannot be fully accessed in China, joining YouTube, Blogger, and Google Maps as banned or restricted services. Google has refused to comply with the Chinese governments censorship demands, and as a result has seen its search engine market share continue to drop in China.
