Google's Schmidt Says Encryption Will Overcome China's Censorship

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Kaylene Hong

Kaylene Hong was Asia Reporter for The Next Web between 2013 and 2014, based in Singapore. She is bilingual in English and Mandarin. Stay in (show all) Kaylene Hong was Asia Reporter for The Next Web between 2013 and 2014, based in Singapore. She is bilingual in English and Mandarin. Stay in touch via Twitter or Google+.

Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt has already expressed his view that government censorship can be ended within a decade with the help of encryption, and now he’s singled out China where Google will work on doing so, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Schmidt told the WSJ on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that Google has been strengthening its encryption which “creates a problem for governments like China’s” that are trying to penetrate it.

Even though Google exited China in 2010 amid concerns over censorship, Schmidt says the company still closely monitors developments in the country. He expressed optimism that government censorship in China will eventually be overcome by the increasing number of people using social media in the country — and not only due to stronger encryption.

➤ Schmidt Says Encryption Will Help Google Penetrate China [Wall Street Journal]