Last year,Google dropped plansto launch its censored search engine, codenamedDragonfly, in China. But it seems like Google’s employees aren’t convinced and they investigated to find out otherwise.
According to a report byThe Intercept, some of the Google employees kept a close eye on variouscodes stored in computersand found out that they were linked to the Dragonfly project.
It is suggested that around500 changeshave been made to the codes each month, since 2017, hinting at the ongoing work on the project.
Additionally, the codes were created for Android as well as iOS versions of the search engine in China, namedMaotaiandLongfei, respectively.
While the Dragonfly project was stopped due tointernalandpolitical pressure, Google did not ask the employees to stop working on it completely. Instead, they wereasked to complete the work, following which those employees will be allotted new projects.
It is further suggested that the employees associated with the project were still linked to the Dragonfly ‘cost center’, implying that thebudget for the projectwas still being maintained.
Furthermore, Google did not provide clarifications on the censored search engine plans due to which manyemployees have left Google.
Google’s censored search engine while being unethical could mean its re-entry in China (it was banned in China back in 2010) expanding its user base in the country.
Upon being contacted byThe Verge,Google denied the newsand suggested that no work is taking place for the Dragonfly project.
