Watch video of the Slate/New America Foundation discussion about China, Google, and Internet freedom.

Watch video of the Slate/New America Foundation discussion about China, Google, and Internet freedom.

Watch video of the Slate/New America Foundation discussion about China, Google, and Internet freedom.

The inner workings of Slate.
Jan. 20 2010 12:02 PM

Authority, Meet Technology

Watch video of the Slate/New America Foundation discussion about China, Google, and Internet freedom.

Western media companies have long faced ethical challenges in order to access the vast Chinese market. But after accepting Beijing's censorship and experiencing a series of attacks on its network, Google announced last week that it has had enough, and it is threatening to pull out of China.

China aspires to be considered a trustworthy global economic leader, but plenty of corporations doing business in that country share Google's frustration at having to abide by different rules in the Middle Kingdom.

How will the China-Google skirmish shake out? What lessons or cautionary tales does China's experience offer repressive governments and their tech-savvy opponents in places like Iran and Cuba? What, if anything, should the Obama administration do to keep the Web free, worldwide? On Thursday, Jan. 21, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to outline the administration's plans in a major address on Internet freedom.

On the eve of Clinton's speech, Atlantic correspondent and New America board member James Fallows moderated a discussion involving Open Society Institute fellow Rebecca MacKinnon, Foreign Policy contributing editor Evgeny Morozov, Columbia Law School professor and Slate contributor Tim Wu, and Clinton's senior adviser for innovation, Alec Ross.

You can download an MP3 version of the event here, or as part of the Slate Daily Podcast here.

You can also watch archived video of the discussion below.

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