UPDATE: SFT Welcomes Google’s Decision as Victory for Freedom This statement is updated from SFT's early statement published on January 14th, 2010. New York - Tibetans and supporters worldwide applaud Google’s decision to stop censoring Internet searches in China. Google announced on Monday that it would not censor searches and instead redirect all searches to its uncensored Hong Kong-based site. Google also said that attempts at censorship of the site by Beijing would be monitored and publicized. “Google’s exit from China is a landmark victory for freedom,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “It has also exposed the Chinese government as an insecure, authoritarian dictatorship afraid to allow its own citizens to access information freely and draw their own conclusions about the world.” When Google announced in January 2006 that it was launching Google.cn, a version of its popular search engine custom-built to meet the Chinese government’s cyber restrictions, Students for a Free Tibet was at the forefront of the campaign to oppose this decision. We encouraged anyone who was outraged and felt betrayed by Google’s actions to join an online boycott of the company’s services, and on Valentine’s Day more than 12,000 people “broke-up” with Google (1). 45,000 people sent emails to Google’s executives voicing their concern and protests were held outside Google offices worldwide. On January 12, 2010, Google announced it would operate in China only if it could uncensor search results on Google.cn. This decision was made after the company disclosed "highly sophisticated and targeted attacks" on the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights advocates. Google said around 20 other companies were also targets of cyber attacks from China. On February 18, 2010, the New York Times reported that these attacks had been traced to Shanghai’s Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School, which allegedly enjoys close ties with the Chinese military. “Access to information is a critical tool to millions of Tibetans and Chinese struggling for human rights and freedom,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “Let this be a wake-up call to other corporations operating in China. Colluding with Beijing's repressive policies does not bring about positive change or greater freedoms for anyone.” Tenzin Seldon, a regional coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet, was one of a dozen people whose Gmail accounts were attacked by Chinese hackers. “My email account was likely hacked because I am a Tibetan activist. In recent years, the Tibet movement has successfully publicized the Chinese government's human rights abuses and unmasked its repressive and colonialist policies in Tibet. This has made us a target of email viruses and other cyber-attacks from China,” said 20-year old Seldon, whose experience was referenced in an article published by the New York Times this evening (2). "But this has only demonstrated the effectiveness of our work for human rights and freedom in Tibet." “While deeply disturbing, it is not surprising that Google users who advocate human rights in China were targeted by these cyber attacks,” said Nathan Dorjee, Students for a Free Tibet’s technology advisor. “Tibet activists have become all too familiar with these attacks in recent years. During the March 2008 Uprising in Tibet, we experienced a marked increase in the volume and sophistication of email and other cyber-based attacks designed to collect information and to impede our work.” Notes to editors: 1. To read more about SFT’s 2006 campaign targeting Google.cn, visit: http://www.NoLuv4Google.com 2. Miguel Helft and John Markoff reference Tenzin Seldon’s Gmail account breach in The New York Times “In Google’s Rebuke of China, Focus Falls on Cybersecurity”: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/technology/14google.html 3. Google Blog writes about "A New Approach to China": http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html Press Releases TIBETANS AND SUPPORTERS MARK HUMAN RIGHTS DAY; CALL FOR ACTION AS CHINA’S CRACKDOWN INTENSIFIES TIBET ACTIVISTS PROTEST HU JINTAO AT G20 SUMMIT NEW YORK TIMES “ATHLETE WANTED” AD APPEALS TO ATHLETES TO STAND UP FOR TIBET AT BEIJING OLYMPICS A MONTH BEFORE OLYMPICS, CHINA IMPRISONS OVER 1000 TIBETAN MONKS TIBETANS APPEAL FOR ATHLETE SUPPORT AT BEIJING OLYMPICS TIBETANS AND SUPPORTERS ARRESTED FOR PROTESTING OUTSIDE OF IOC MEETING IN ATHENS SFT's Statement on the May 12th Earthquake in China and Tibet TIBETAN-CANADIAN OBSERVER DETAINED IN BEIJING HOURS BEFORE OLYMPICS COUNTDOWN CELEBRATION TIBET ACTIVISTS PROTEST 2008 OLYMPICS AT GREAT WALL OF CHINA GLOBAL DEMONSTRATIONS TARGET BOMBARDIER OFFICES More » News CHINA PARADES OLYMPIC TORCH THROUGH TIBETAN CAPITAL LHASA UNDER LOCKDOWN A Message to Tibetans inside Tibet from SFT on the occasion of Tibetan National Uprising Day, March 10th, 2007 GET INVOLVED TODAY! 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