Google has been a big advocate of a single Web, one that’s free of government censorship and barriers to information access. However, this is not the case anymore.
Governments from China to France have put different roadblocks in the information superhighway to serve their interests, filter speech or protect copyrights. The Internet connection hasn’t reached all corners of the world, not even all parts of the U.S.
CNN recently sat down with one of Google’s policy analysts, Derek Slater, to get more information on the split between Google’s idea of an all-access Web and the reality they’re facing today.
Slater declined to comment on Google’s negotiations with China. The search engine has threatened to pull out of the country after Gmail accounts of a few human rights activists were hacked into. Since the interview took place, it was reported that Google is working with the National Security Agency to prevent similar cyber attacks.
However, Slater did give his take about increasing sluggish Internet speeds and why the Web can really help peoples’ lives.
Read the edited transcript here.