While Google users around the globe have access to the mostly unfiltered google.com and its partner sites, individual countries can still block access to those sites.

In Turkey, it’s a crime to defame the country’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk or to ridicule “Turkishness.” So Google restricts access to videos that the government of Turkey deem criminal.

“When we first went into China, we were doing so with open eyes: We thought we could provide more access to information by being in China and censoring some information than not being there at all,” said Scott Rubin, public policy spokesman for Google. “We always reserved the right to change our minds.”

On Jan. 12, Google announced that it would no longer censor content on its Chinese search site after an investigation found that hackers had tried to access Gmail accounts of Chinese activists back in December.

Google has not taken any action yet as it continues to negotiate with the Chinese government. But ultimately, the company expects its decision to stop censoring will lead to shutting down google.cn. An announcement could come as early as Monday, according to news reports.

How Google’s censorship works

Some countries, like China, give Google and other search companies terms and topics that are considered illegal, and it is up to Google to determine whether a certain site breaks local law. Other countries make ad-hoc requests to take down certain links or content.

When a country asks Google to remove content or links, Google’s lawyers examine the request to determine if it is, in fact, against that nation’s laws. Often Google will negotiate with that country’s authorities to narrow the scope of the requested restriction. And on occasion, Google doesn’t comply, and countries restrict access.

In fact, Google sites have, at one time or another, been blocked in more than 25 different nations: China, Thailand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Pakistan, Morocco, Syria, Indonesia, Burma, Fiji, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Bangladesh, India, Brazil and Spain.

Currently, Turkey doesn’t allow Internet users within its borders to access YouTube, Google’s online video site. The Turkish courts weren’t satisfied with Google’s decision to block illegal videos only within Turkish borders, because the videos are still available globally.