CNNMoney.com, by David Goldman, staff writerMarch 24, 2010: 2:58 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Two days after Google stopped censoring search results in China, a congressional panel praised the company's actions while excoriating the Chinese government for its record on Internet censorship and human rights.
At a hearing held by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Wednesday, lawmakers called on China to allow a free flow of ideas on the Internet.
"China wants to participate in the marketplace of goods but keep the marketplace of ideas outside their country," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., "Only when China respects human rights and allows the free flow of ideas ... only then will they be treated as a full member of the international community."
While lawmakers scolded China, they roundly applauded Google for shutting down its search operations in China.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. called Google's decision "a remarkable, historic and welcomed action." He also praised Internet domain host site GoDaddy.com for leaving China.
At the same time, he lit a fire under Google's search rival Microsoft (MSFT,Fortune 500) for continuing to censor results in China and not following Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) lead.
"They [Microsoft] need to get on the right side of human rights rather than enabling tyranny, which they're doing right now," Smith said.
Smith said he supported the Global Online Freedom Act, which would require tech companies doing business in China to disclose what they're censoring. He called on China to do "more than passing lip service" to Google and pass the act.
Due to the wide interest about the implications of Google's decision on the United States' diplomatic relations with China, the hearing was packed. Journalists and other spectators stood two rows deep in the back of the hearing room.
On Monday, Google began redirecting its Chinese users to its Hong Kong site, google.com.hk, which offers uncensored search results.
Google's search site for Chinese users is now hosted on servers that are in Hong Kong. Since Google is no longer hosting its search operations within mainland China, Google no longer needs to adhere to China's censorship laws.
It is now up to the Chinese government to block access to the results it finds objectionable.
-- CNNMoney.com Deputy Managing Editor Rich Barbieri contributed to this story
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