U.N. critic accuses Google of censorship
Inner City Press editor and self-appointed United Nations watchdog Matthew Lee says Google banned his site from Google News because he wrote an article critical of the company. Lee told Fox News that at a press conference to announce a partnership between Google and the United Nations last November, he Google why it hadn't signed a U.N.-sponsored global human-rights compact. Google, Lee says, responded harshly. And on February 13, it blocked Inner City Press from Google News.
Google PR flack Gabriel Stricker told Fox News Google banned Inner City Press because a reader email claimed Lee ran a one-man operation, which would disqualify it as a Google News source. Lee says he employs one full-time employee and that Inner City Press can claim at least five volunteers. Appeased, Google said it will reinstate the site to Google News, though the process will take several weeks. Lee remains upset:
There's something a little skeezy here. I think that Google got involved with the U.N. on these Millennium goals and thought, this is the United Nations, if they tell you some small website is a thorn in their side and there's a credible reason you could remove them from your news service, you do it.
