Project Dragonfly — 60s explainer (B06)

01 / 08 · Setup

GOOGLE IN CHINA.

left in 2010 after Aurora attack

02 / 08 · Tension

LEFT ? COMING BACK.

2017–2018 · DRAGONFLY

03 / 08 · Reveal

DRAGONFLY

codename · censored Android search engine for the PRC

04 / 08 · Mechanism

query → state filter list → zero results

User

query + phone number

Tiananmen · Dalai Lama · democracy

Google Dragonfly

PRC filter · no message

identification by phone number tied to account

05 / 08 · Scale

1.4 BILLION CITIZENS. 100M ANDROID POTENTIAL.

2010 exit 2017 Dragonfly start Dec 2018 end

1,400

employees · open letter

Congress

public testimony

The Intercept

first publication

06 / 08 · Disclosure

AUGUST 2018

Ryan Gallagher

The Intercept

1,400 employees

open letter

U.S. Congress

testimony

insider leak · internal memos · technical prototypes

07 / 08 · Consequence

SHUTTERED

project "effectively ended" Dec 2018

Never officially confirmed or denied. Team gradually dissolved. Lesson: workers as whistleblowers — not the board.

08 / 08

DRAGONFLY

The whistleblowers were workers. Not the board. Google's protest culture changed forever.
File B06 in Big Tech Files.