Google Stops Offering Translation Services in Mainland China

CTV NEWS Hong Kong reported on Oct. 3 that Google had discontinued its translation service in mainland China, one of the few services the company offered consumers in Communist China. Also, Chrome’s Google built-in translation feature no longer works for users in Communist China.

In 2017, Google offered translation services in Communist China through Chinese domain names and competed with local translation services such as Baidu and Sogo. Google said in a statement that the Google Translate service had been discontinued in China due to “low usage.”According to users on social media in China, the Google Translate service has been unavailable since Saturday. It is unclear how many people in Communist China are using Google Translate.

In 2010, Google was forced to pull its search engine service from Communist China. Subsequently, the Chinese Communist Party blocked Google’s email service, Gmail, and Google Maps from its market because Google did not want to comply with censorship regulations in the country.

Because the Chinese Communist Party tries to maintain strict Internet firewall censorship rules, it blocks most Western social media platforms and services. Media platforms in the CCP must strictly adhere to these regulations and censor keywords and topics that the CCP considers politically sensitive.