Google Annual Meeting Marked by Praise, Criticism
Google co-founder Sergey Brin sparred briefly with the critic, Tony Cruz of Amnesty International USA over Google's recent decision to censor some of its search results in China to adhere to the country's restrictions on free speech.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) - Google Inc. shareholders hailed management during the online search engine leader's annual meeting Thursday, heaping praise on a company that has created $55 billion in investor wealth during the past year.
The only serious criticism lodged during the 75-minute meeting attended by about 200 shareholders focused on Google's recent decision to censor some of its search results in China to adhere to the country's restrictions on free speech.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin sparred briefly with the critic, Tony Cruz of Amnesty International USA. Brin pointed out that rival search engine Yahoo had been cooperating with China far longer, going so far as to provide personal information that has helped land dissidents in jail.
Reiterating previous management comments on the issue, Brin said Google believes its presence in China ultimately will force the government to become less repressive.
He noted that Google's January launch of a search engine under a Chinese domain name already has helped trigger Congressional hearings and drawn widespread media attention to the issue.
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