Google Translate is no longer available in China “due to low usage”

China is well known for its extreme and often insane censorship laws, and over the years, Google has had a near impossible time running its services there. Back in 2019, the company tried to get project “Dragonfly” up and running. This was a version of Google Search that was tailored to work in conjunction with China’s state censorship provisions, but due to major disagreements within the privacy team itself at Google, the initiative it was effectively shut down.

Now, anyone living in mainland China who visits translate.google.com will be met with a regular Google Search page in its place. According to a Google spokesperson, who confirmed this information to TechCrunch, this was no accident.

Apparently, the service received “low usage” in this region, but I’m not buying it. I think it was instead due to the aforementioned censorship issues between the government there and the search giant. The upcoming National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party takes place in just two weeks, and in order to maintain a squeaky-clean image (free of memes and such), those up top tend to block Google’s services to prevent information (and videos showing those in power hurting the innocent) from persuading public opinion.

Due to Translate being pulled, anyone living there geographically while attempting to use Chrome’s built-in page translation feature will also notice that this is no longer working either. It makes sense as the tool is powered directly by Translate, so it’s a package deal until Google brings things back online – something there’s no guarantee of at this time.