谷歌員工抗議為中國開發(fā)審查版搜索引擎

Hundreds of Google employees, upset at the company’s decision to secretly build a censored version of its search engine for China, have signed a letter demanding more transparency to understand the ethical consequences of their work.

上千名谷歌員工對公司決定秘密為中國打造一個審查版搜索引擎感到不滿，簽署了一封信，要求公司提高透明度，以便他們了解自己工作的道德后果。

In the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, employees wrote that the project and Google’s apparent willingness to abide by China’s censorship requirements “raise urgent moral and ethical issues.” They added, “Currently we do not have the information required to make ethically-informed decisions about our work, our projects, and our employment.”

在《紐約時報》獲得的這封信件中，員工們寫道，該項目和谷歌對遵守中國審查要求的明顯意愿“引發(fā)了緊迫的道德和倫理問題”。他們還補充說，“目前我們沒有所需的信息，無法對我們的工作、項目和就業(yè)做出符合道德規(guī)范的決定。”

The letter is circulating on Google’s internal communication systems and is signed by about 1,400 employees, according to three people familiar with the document, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

據(jù)了解這份文件的三位知情人士透露，這封信正在谷歌的內(nèi)部通訊系統(tǒng)中傳播，有大約1400名員工聯(lián)署。

The internal activism presents another obstacle for Google’s potential return to China eight years after the company publicly withdrew from the country in protest of censorship and government hacking. China has the world’s largest internet audience but has frustrated American tech giants with content restrictions or outright blockages of services including Facebook and Instagram.

為抗議審查和政府黑客攻擊，谷歌公開退出了中國市場，如今，公司內(nèi)部的激進主義為它重返中國的可能性帶來了另一個障礙。中國擁有世界上最大的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶群體，但因其內(nèi)容限制，以及對Facebook和Instagram等服務的直接封鎖，令美國科技巨頭們感到失望。

It is also the latest example of how Google’s outspoken work force has agitated for changes to strategy. In April, the internet company’s employees spoke out against its involvement in a Pentagon program that uses artificial intelligence to improve weaponry. By June, Google had said it would not renew a contract with the Pentagon for A.I. work.

谷歌員工一向直言不諱，積極推動公司戰(zhàn)略變革，這只是最新的例證。今年4月，這家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司的員工公開反對它參與五角大樓一項利用人工智能改進武器的項目。到6月，谷歌已表示不會與五角大樓續(xù)簽人工智能工作合同。

Google’s interest in bringing search back to China came to the forefront earlier this month, when reports surfaced that the company was working on a search app that restricts content banned by Beijing. The project, known internally as Dragonfly, was developed largely in secret, prompting outrage among employees who worried they had been unwittingly working on technology that would help China withhold information from its citizens.

本月早些時候，谷歌將其搜索引擎帶回中國的意向成為關注焦點，有報道稱，該公司正在開發(fā)一款限制北京禁止內(nèi)容的搜索應用程序。這個內(nèi)部稱為“蜻蜓”(Dragonfly)的項目大部分是秘密開發(fā)的，這引起了員工的憤慨，他們擔心自己在無意中所做的技術(shù)工作會幫助中國向公民隱瞞信息。

“We urgently need more transparency, a seat at the table, and a commitment to clear and open processes: Google employees need to know what we’re building,” the letter said.

“我們迫切需要更多的透明度，在決策中的一席之地，并承諾清晰和開放的流程：谷歌員工需要知道我們正在建設什么，”信中說。

The letter also called on Google to allow employees to participate in ethical reviews of the company’s products, to appoint external representatives to ensure transparency and to publish an ethical assessment of controversial projects. The document referred to the situation as a “code yellow,” a process used in engineering to address critical problems that impact several teams.

這封信還呼吁谷歌允許員工參與公司產(chǎn)品的道德評估，任命外部代表以確保透明度，并公開有爭議項目的道德評估。這封信將這種情況稱為“黃色代碼”，這是一種用于解決影響多個團隊關鍵問題的工程流程。

Google declined to comment on the letter. It has said in the past that it will not comment on Dragonfly or “speculation about future plans.”

谷歌拒絕對這封信發(fā)表評論。它曾表示不會評價“蜻蜓”或“對未來計劃的猜測”。

Employees are expected to press management about Dragonfly at a weekly staff meeting on Thursday. As of late Wednesday, one of the top questions on an internal software system called Dory, which lets employees vote for the questions that executives should answer at the meeting, asked whether Google has lost its ethical compass, said employees familiar with the letter. Other questions on Dory asked directly about the Dragonfly project and specific information that may be censored by the Chinese government, such as air pollution data.

預計員工將在周四的每周員工會議上對管理層就“蜻蜓”問題施壓。據(jù)知情人士透露，谷歌有一個名為多利(Dory)的內(nèi)部軟件系統(tǒng)，用來讓員工投票選出高管應該在每周會議上回答什么問題，截至周三晚些時候，位居榜首的問題之一是，谷歌是否已經(jīng)失去了道德的指南針。“多利”上的其他問題直接針對“蜻蜓”項目，以及可能遭到中國政府審查的具體信息，例如空氣污染數(shù)據(jù)。

This week’s staff meeting will be the first opportunity for Google’s work force to ask executives about Dragonfly since the meeting was not held last week. The absence of a gathering — the result of a regularly scheduled break in the summer, according to company spokesman Rob Shilkin — led to fears among employees that leadership was becoming less transparent following several controversies over Google’s government work.

由于上周的員工會議未能舉行，本周的員工會議將是谷歌員工第一次有機會向管理人員詢問有關“蜻蜓”的問題。據(jù)公司發(fā)言人羅伯·希爾金(Rob Shilkin)的說法，上周沒開會是因為定期的暑期休假——員工擔心，經(jīng)過幾次谷歌政府工作的爭議，谷歌管理層變得不那么透明了。

Historically, Google has been more responsive to employee concerns and more transparent about future projects and inner workings than other major technology companies, inviting questions from workers at its staff meetings and encouraging internal debate.

傳統(tǒng)上，與其他大型科技公司相比，谷歌對員工的關切回應更加積極，對未來項目及內(nèi)部運轉(zhuǎn)也更為透明，會在員工會議上請員工提問，鼓勵內(nèi)部進行討論。

The internal dissent over Dragonfly comes on the heels of the employee protests over Google’s involvement in the Pentagon project to use artificial intelligence. After Google said it would not renew its contract with the Pentagon, it unveiled a series of ethical principles governing its use of A.I.

就在圍繞“蜻蜓”的內(nèi)部異議發(fā)生之前，員工對公司參與五角大樓使用人工智能項目進行了抗議。谷歌表示不會與五角大樓續(xù)簽合約后，公布了一系列對人工智能使用的倫理指導原則。

In those principles, Google publicly committed to only use A.I. in “socially beneficial” ways that would not cause harm and promised to develop its capabilities in accordance with human rights law. Some employees have raised concerns that helping China suppress the free flow of information would violate these new principles.

在這些原則中，谷歌公開承諾僅以不會造成傷害的“對社會有益”的方式使用人工智能，并且保證會根據(jù)人權(quán)法律提升其能力。一些雇員擔憂，幫助中國壓制信息的自由流動違反了這些新原則。

In 2010, Google said it had discovered that Chinese hackers had attacked the company’s corporate infrastructure in an attempt to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists. The attack, combined with government censorship, propelled Google to pull its search engine from the country.

2010年，谷歌表示發(fā)現(xiàn)中國黑客為了進入人權(quán)活動人士的Gmail賬戶，攻擊該公司的基礎設施。這次攻擊，加上政府審查制度，促使谷歌將搜索引擎撤出中國。

The exit from China was a seminal moment for the company — a symbol of its uncompromising idealism captured by Google’s unofficial motto of “Don’t Be Evil.” At the time, Chinese internet users marked the loss of Google’s search engine by laying flowers at the company’s Beijing offices in what became known as an “illegal flower tribute.” A possible re-entry to China, according to current and former employees, is a sign of a more mature and pragmatic company.

退出中國對這家公司來說是一個有著重大影響的時刻——是谷歌決不妥協(xié)的理想主義的標志，“不作惡”這個非正式的公司格言就是對其最好的說明。當時，中國的網(wǎng)民在該公司的北京辦公室獻花，紀念中國失去了谷歌搜索引擎，這個事件被稱為“非法獻花”。據(jù)前員工及現(xiàn)員工表示，重新進入中國的可能是谷歌成為一家更成熟、更務實公司的標志。

Google has maintained a significant presence in China even though its flagship services are not accessible in the country. Last year, Google announced plans for a research center in China focused on artificial intelligence. And it has introduced translation and file management apps for the Chinese market. Google now has more than 700 employees in China.

雖然旗艦服務在中國都不可用，但谷歌仍在這個國家保持著重要地位。去年，谷歌宣布計劃在中國設立一家專注人工智能的研究中心。此外，谷歌還將翻譯及文件管理應用程序引入中國市場。谷歌目前在中國有超過700名雇員。

Google’s work on Dragonfly is not a guarantee that its search engine will be welcomed back to China. The government would have to approve its return and it has kept American technology firms like Facebook at arm’s length, opting instead to work closely with homegrown internet behemoths.

谷歌在“蜻蜓”方面的工作并不能保證其搜素引擎會受到歡迎回到中國。這得經(jīng)過中國政府的批準，而它已經(jīng)把像Facebook這樣的美國科技企業(yè)拒之門外，選擇與本土的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭密切合作。

Some employees are in favor of re-entering China, arguing that exiting the country in protest of censorship has done little to pressure Beijing to change its position while it has made Google nonessential among the world’s largest base of internet users.

一些員工支持谷歌重返中國，認為抗議審查而退出這個國家，并沒能讓北京感受到改變其立場的壓力，反而讓谷歌在這個世界最大互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶基地變得無足輕重。

When Google pulled out of China in 2010, Sergey Brin, the company’s co-founder, said it objected to the country’s “totalitarian” policies when it came to censorship, political speech and internet communications. If anything, China has only tightened its controls in the last eight years — leaving the company in a bind for how to justify its return.

當谷歌2010年退出中國時，該公司聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人謝爾蓋·布林(Sergey Brin)表示，谷歌反對中國在審查、政治言論及互聯(lián)網(wǎng)交流方面的“極權(quán)”政策。如果說有什么變化的話，中國在過去八年里更加收緊了控制——讓該公司在如何證明其回歸的合理性方面陷入困境。

“You can never satisfy a censor, particularly the ones in China,” said Charles Mok, member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council who advocates for information technology and who is affiliated with the territory’s democratic camp.

“你永遠不能讓審查者滿意，尤其是中國的審查者，”香港立法會議員莫乃光(Charles Mok)表示，他是信息科技的倡導者，屬于民主陣營。

Google is probably facing intense pressure to introduce more of its products in China, Mr. Mok said, but added that the company would lend legitimacy to government censorship if it debuted a censored search product in China.

谷歌可能正面臨將其更多產(chǎn)品引進中國的壓力，莫乃光說，但他又補充，如果在中國推出經(jīng)過審查的搜索產(chǎn)品，這家公司可能會為政府審查提供合法性。

“Then the Chinese government can say, ‘Google is O.K. with it too,’” he said.

“然后中國政府就可以說，‘谷歌都覺得沒問題，’”他說。