Google is accusing the Chinese government of blocking its popular Gmail service, and trying to make it look like the glitch is Google's fault. China denies it's doing anything to disrupt Gmail users' messages. The dispute comes as Chinese authorities are trying to quell the "jasmine revolution," an online dissident movement inspired by the recent Arab revolts. Should Google be doing more to protect its users in China?
Google is powerless against China: Google has tried, and failed, in the past to thwart Chinese censorship, says Zacks Investment Research. It stopped "self-censoring its google.cn website," and redirected customers to Hong Kong, which has "a more conducive operating climate." But China has just used "sneaky" methods to slow down Google's site and discourage people from using it, cutting Google's share of the Chinese search market from 35 percent to 19 percent. You can't "operate in a country if you do not play ball with its government."
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