Posted on 05/30/2014 9:18:30 AM PDT by Dallas59
Many of the requests made to Google by public figures hoping for links to embarrassing information about them are likely to be turned down, the company's CEO Larry Page has said.
Following the recent European Court ruling that individuals should have the right to request links to embarrassing or outdated information about them be taken down, Google has received thousands of applications.
Mr Page told the Financial Times he worried about the effect the 'right to be forgotten' ruling would have on democracy over time if the search engine did not "do that perfectly" with regards to politicians attempting to remove information.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I think he has it right.
But those that are wrongly smeared have every right to rebut allegations made against them. Google is merely the messenger. But I can see Google having to offer up via court order the ISP info on bloggers that spread malicious lies.
Hey, Winston knows how to erase history
This is right out of “1984”
Google is evil
Trying to moderate the internet is impossible. “Public” figures should be exposed. Good and bad. It’s part of the job. Next: censorship of books, magazines, any print.
Sorry Carrie, the Star Wars Christmas Special isn’t going anywhere.
Google should implement the link takedown for browsers in the European Union only.
EU courts have no jurisdiction over what happens when my browser in the US sends a search query to one of Google’s servers in the US.
That is, I believe, the design. It was ordered from EU court and cannot be binding elsewhere in the world.
Now, sometimes Google already suppresses search results such as kiddy porn and photographs from “shame sites” like those which archive ephemeral government mugshots with daily screen scrapes. (An arrest mugshot by nature can not furnish any information about whether the person pictured was subsequently exonerated.) They’re private and can shape their internet presence any legal way they wish.
In the US, public figures lose a lot of legal protections over notoriety. It’s part of classical 1st Amendment understanding.
Anyhow, I expect a lot of leaks via foreign proxies. On the internet, nobody needs to know you are not an American. The leak situation may ultimately be used in litigation to rescind these rules, by showing that they are pointless.
“Hey, Winston knows how to erase history”
Hey Winnie1 - Good luck with the Way Back Machine.
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