Google: Censorship Requests 'Alarming' (Google deleting content per government request)

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

BRUSSELS - Google has received more than 1,000 requests from authorities to take down content from its search results or YouTube video in the last six months of 2011, the company said on Monday, denouncing what it said was an alarming trend. In its twice-yearly Transparency Report, the world's largest web search engine said the requests were aimed at having some 12,000 items overall removed, about a quarter more than during the first half of last year.

"Unfortunately, what we've seen over the past couple years has been troubling, and today is no different," Dorothy Chou, the search engine's senior policy analyst, said in a blogpost. "We hoped this was an aberration. But now we know it's not." Many of those requests targeted political speech, keeping up a trend Google said it has noticed since it started releasing its Transparency Report in 2010.

"It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect — Western democracies not typically associated with censorship," said Chou.

In the second half of last year, Google complied with around 65 percent of court orders and 47 percent of informal requests to remove content, it said.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/18/google-censorship-government-authorities_n_1605354.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, onehandle.

[1monster]

2. So if Google finds these requests alarming and a threat to free expression,

why are they complying with the requests?

[WingDinger]

4. I have seen no better example of, Do no EVIL, than this.

Going public, is brave. It is a bold start.

[EFerrari]

8. Or it's CYA. n/t

[dbonds]

11. They are not complying with most of the request.

If you read the article it tells the breakdown of compliance or lack of compliance.

[dbonds]

18. Googles Transparency Report

Here is the actual report of who asked what (in aggregate) http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/government/countries/

Here is the actual Google post reporting on their transparency http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/more-transparency-into-government.html

The headline of this post is misleading and NOT what the original article had.

[liberalnationalist]

3. i wonder how many requests

are from the religious wingnuts in America?

[KurtNYC]

5. The content is being pulled from YouTube

which is quite a task for Google since 72 hours of new video go UP every minute of every day.

Governments aren't used to be criticized in video but they'll get used to it eventually.

[TheMadMonk]

13. Largely irrelevant number. It's total amount per hour flagged...

...for review that's important. Looks like it's about one item per 20 mins or so on average.

And how much of the material they agree to remove clearly does merit removal or indeed violates the YouTube TOS directly?

Where the number you cited becomes important is lawsuits (or threats thereof) because of content not reviewed and removed BEFORE it manages to offend someone.

[MicaelS]

6. This is the height of hypocrisy..

Google complains about Censorship, when they knuckled under to China, so China would let them in,

[woo me with science]

7. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Everything's just fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

[siligut]

9. Start printing everything you want to save off of websites

So glad Google came forward with this, control of information is a step toward totalitarian government.

[emilyg]

10. kick

[The Northerner]

12. K&R n/t

[Egalitarian Thug]

14. K&R. Thanks for posting. n/t

[valerief]

15. Countries we might not expect? Like the US? That would be my first suspect. nt

[wingzeroday]

16. usa usa usa!

Only number 2??? whooo-hooo we have a way to go to be the king of the hill!


"#2 - The United States- There were 117 court-ordered requests for a total of 3,851 items to be removed. Google complied with 40 percent of these requests. In addition, 70 executive requests were made for 2,341 items to be taken down, 44 percent of which Google complied with"



A chill wind is blowing in this nation.

[bvar22]

17. DURec....

...because this IS important.
There is no democracy when a government operates in secrecy.