How a student's death highlighted our reliance on companies for health advice

China's equivalent of Google is under fire. Search engine Baidu has been criticised following the death of 21-year-old student Wei Zai, who used the search engine to research esoteric treatments for his cancer. After Wei Zai's death, the state-run People's Daily attacked Baidu, claiming it was ranking search results in exchange for money. "There have been hospitals making profits at the cost of killing patients who were directed by false advertisements paid at a higher rank in search results," the article claimed, adding, "profit considerations shall not be placed over social responsibility". The Chinese party newspaper may have its own reasons for wanting to control Baidu; a powerful search engine is a gateway to the outside world and a challenge to any repressive state.