Google Country Faves?
August 30, 2019
Google, according to the Intercept the search engine has returned to Egypt in “Google Is Deepening Its Involvement With Egypt’s Repressive Government.” Google abandoned its Cairo office in 2014 when a military coup placed Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the presidency. The Sisi government is notorious for silencing political activists and dissidents, while using the Internet to form a Big Brother surveillance system. It gets worse, because Sisi’s administration is also censoring Web sites, news, and violating human rights.
Google will soon hire full time staff under Google executive Limo Cattaruzzi. The company will also work with the Egyptian government to expand its “Skills From Google” program that provides digital training for entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, the Sisi government is involved with this endeavor.
Google faced some eyebrow raising for working with the Chinese government on Project Dragonfly. Advocacy groups. The US Congress asked questions. Some Google employees protested Dragonfly. In a bold move, Google backtracked.
Google will probably face similar backlash when it reopens its Cairo office in September:
“Rights groups are concerned that a more permanent presence in the country will expose Google to added pressure from the Egyptian government, which has a history of using data collection and monitoring to punish dissidents, journalists, and human rights advocates.
We noted:
‘Re-opening an office in Egypt when the government is aggressively asking other internet companies to provide disproportionate access to their data sounds alarming,’ said Katitza Rodriguez, the international rights director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Google has an obligation to respect human rights under international standards, Rodriguez added, and the company should disclose what steps it will take to safeguard them.”
Egyptian political dissidents have some history with Google. When the Egyptian government shut down the Internet in 2011, Google allegedly flipped on some digital lights during the blackout.
Will the Sisi government use its partnership with Google and other foreign companies to brand Egypt as a foreign investment haven?
Whitney Grace, August 30, 2019
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