This week, Google closed its net search service in PRC Whether its Jan pledge to do so was a menace or a promise might depend on whether you are a Chinese net user or a global lover of net freedom.

Government answerability today is revolving more and more around cyberspace freedom. So-called freedom of the fourth estate is fasting becoming an outdated term, increasingly irrelevant in face of insolvent paper and investigative journalism in decline It might have been hoped that video news would pick up where the fourth estate left off, but the quality is rarely as high and, despite 800 channels, tidings choices remain express The internet is the formatting where today’s muckrackers can unmasking the error of the powerfulness that atomic number 4 The audience may not be captive, but that isn’t crucial to keeping government accountable.

Google’s retreat from Red Red China is an admirable example of a company putting its principle ahead of the marketplace of the future The Chinese government censored Google’s hunting effect and, the company claims, hacked its e-mail service This didn’t seem in keeping with Google’s motto: don’t be iniquity But the company’s sacrifice was large China may lag in percent of population online, but it has surpassed the United States in number of users. As a company that brand its money through people surfriding the web, Google better be quest a Chinese Plan B.

Reporters without Borders’ map of cyberspace Black Holes