Technology giant Google is facing pushback from its employees who are accusing the company of collaborating with the Chinese government to develop a search engine that would violate users’ privacy and allow government censorship. Experts say that Chinese residents would be unable to search for information using keywords related to human rights. The search engine would also provide the Chinese government access to the search history of users. Listen to learn more about this issue and debate: Should Google agree to let China censor online searches?
Story Length: 3:32
Socrative users can import these questions using the following code: SOC-1234
December 11, 2018
6:45
China’s presence has grown on the world stage in recent years in both business and politics. President Xi Jingping and other Chinese leaders are making efforts to influence the way that the world views their country. They have invested heavily in state-run media, which has also increased its international presence. Experts believe that this outreach is working well in spreading China’s message to the developing world, but that they are having a harder time influencing the West. Listen to hear how China is trying to shape its world image.
Read MoreOctober 12, 2018
3:28
Top executives from Facebook and Twitter recently met with Congressional committees about their roles in stopping interference in American elections by international powers such as Russia and Iran. Signs indicate that such interference remains a significant problem heading into the upcoming elections, and major social networks report that they are making efforts to address the issue. Listen to learn about what the networks are doing and debate: Should Facebook and Twitter be required to protect us?
Read MoreAugust 10, 2018
4:40
Recently, tech workers have been protesting some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce. They’ve urged their employers not to work with certain segments of the U.S. government. This is a very unusual request for employees to make of their companies, but it isn’t completely unheard of. Listen to learn more about these protests and what they could mean for the future of technology.
Read MoreJune 2, 2014
5:00
Twenty five years ago, a group of students in China dared to challenge the Communist government with protests in a major square in Beijing called Tiananmen Square. The protests were broken up by the military, who fired into the crowd. More than 300 people were estimated to have been killed. The government called the protests "counter-revolutionary." In the decades since the "Tiananmen Massacre," the government has worked to make the protest disappear from the minds of the Chinese people. Listen to this story and then discuss how history can be controlled.
Read More