More than a dozen human rights groups are urging Google not to offer censored internet search in China, amid reports it is planning to again provide the service in the giant market.
A joint letter Tuesday calls on chief executive officer Sundar Pichai to explain what Google is doing to safeguard users from the Chinese government's censorship and surveillance.
It describes the company's secretive plan to build a search engine that would comply with Chinese censorship as representing "an alarming capitulation by Google on human rights."
"The Chinese government extensively violates the rights to freedom of expression and privacy; by accommodating the Chinese authorities' repression of dissent, Google would be actively participating in those violations for millions of internet users in China," the letter says.
In a statement, Google said it has "been investing for many years to help Chinese users, from developing Android, through mobile apps such as Google Translate and Files Go, and our developer tools. But our work on search has been exploratory, and we are not close to launching a search product in China."
In the US, President Donald Trump and other conservatives have lobbed charges of censorship at Google and other US tech companies, though they haven't provided evidence.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed that Google had rigged search results about him "so that almost all stories & news is BAD."
A top adviser said the White House is "taking a look" at whether Google should face federal regulation. The companies deny the accusations.
The rights groups' expression of concern over a Chinese search engine from Google follows a letter earlier this month from more than a thousand Google employees protesting the China plans. The letter called on executives to review ethics and transparency at the company.
Google had previously complied with censorship controls starting in 2006 as it sought a toehold in the booming Chinese economy. But it exited the Chinese search market in 2010 under unrelenting pressure from human rights groups and some shareholders.
Tuesday's letter, signed by groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders, said China's controls over the internet have only strengthened since then amid an overall crackdown on civil liberties and freedom of expression.
