With the evolution of Google from small Internet concept to a global brand it was inevitable politics was going to creep in somewhere.

The very nature of Google’s primary business, media rich data, brings political implications. Information is power and Google is sitting on a global information highway of monumental proportions.

In this article I will outline two events concerning Google that have politcal implications.

Google Think Tank

Google is hosting a “Summit against violent extremism” in Dublin. This is extremely interesting as it hosted by a Google “think/do tank”. The think tank is interested in how extremist groups are using the Internet for recruitment and propaganda. This is by far the furthest Google have moved towards a politicised platform.

Google Vs China

China is in a constant propaganda war with its people. It does not want its millions of Internet user’s free access to any politically sensitive blogs or opinions on Google. Political freedom is in the media spotlight after Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. China is determined to block any potential risks from social commentator calling for more political freedom.  This is why the Chinese government is interfering with Google’s Gmail service. Google Buzz has also been affected by the politically motivated hacking. Google has stated that they had

“noticed some highly targeted politically motivated attacks against our users. We believe activists (political) may have been a specific target. “

Google is a global empire and will be pulled into politics due to the nature of their business. The Internet and social networking is fast becoming a tool for social revolution as ideology and opinion can be spread globally with the click of a button. How far Google will involve itself in politics is still unknown but the setting up of the “think tank” is an indicator that Google is starting to engage with political issues.