Google has announced it will no longer censor search results in China following cyber attacks from the Chinese government on its Chinese subsidiary, Google.cn. Launched by Google in 2006, Google.cn drew criticism from supporters who believed its partnership with the Chinese government conflicted with Google’s “don’t be evil” mantra, listed online in Google’s Code of Conduct.

In addition to the attacks, e-mail accounts may have also been monitored.

“We have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties,” said David Drummond, Google’s SVP of Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, in the company’s official blog.

“We look to the Chinese government for an explanation,” said Hillary Clinton in a statement on Google’s operations in China. “The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy.”

Meanwhile, Google’s president Dave Girouard has reassured American users that their data was not affected by the cyber attacks.

Teresa Sanford, director of user services at IT&S, agrees. “Google Apps for Education, where we live, is not part of their consumer side – the Gmail side – which is where everybody tries to hack,” said Sanford. “I feel that it’s safer out there.”

Some, such as the Cult of the Dead Cow computer-hacking collective’s Oxblood Ruffin, feel that Google has been straying further and further from its “don’t be evil” mantra and that this action is an attempt for Google to put themselves in a good light.

“When you’re being chased out of town, it can be face-saving to grab a flag and say that you’re leading a parade,” said Ruffin on cDc’s blog. Another reason for Google leaving China, according to the Wall Street Journal, is that it would have proven too technically difficult to continue complying with China’s censorship mandates.

“It looks like an incredibly smart business decision,” said Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science Ken Gilmore.

“We have a view of large technology corporations as being bad,” he said.

“So, what’s a really good thing to do? To say this is the Internet, and we’re going to protect what the Internet stands for.”

Nevertheless, Gilmore feels better about using Google knowing that they are standing, not participating in Chinese censorship.

“I am absolutely on the side of Google on this,” said Gilmore. “I think it’s really admirable what they did.