Because when you are about to publicly challenge a totalitarian government, it might be a good idea to tell the staff in advance. For Google, the big question

Because when you are about to publicly challenge a totalitarian government, it might be a good idea to tell the staff in advance. For Google, the big question about establishing operations in China was always the hostage scenario. If they can jail your people, can you really be brave about censorship? To their credit Google isn't backing down, but the risks are real and they ought to reiterate this to their staff beforehand.