Is Google Your Friend?

[seamusTX]

In the last six months of 2011 governments made about 1,000 requests or orders for Google to remove material. Google complied in most cases, removing over 7,000 specific items.

The company received 461 court orders and 546 informal requests. It complied with 46% of those informal requests.

On a practical level this means that if you use Google to search for something, you may not find information that displeases some government. This includes Youtube, which Google owns.

Not all requests were from governments that normally are considered repressive. Many European countries have laws against hate speech or politically incorrect interpretations of history.

Agencies in the U.S. made 187 requests. Many of the requests from the U.S. involved copyright violations or criminal harassment.:
http://www.google.com/transparencyrepor ... ?p=2011-12" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/ ... nment.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-574549 ... um=twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ironically, Google used to prohibit advertising of firearms and related goods and services. They quietly dropped that policy several years ago. For instance, I routinely see paid ads for CHL and defensive firearms training. For example:
http://www.google.com/search?q=conceale ... n+training" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[The Mad Moderate]

While I do not thing that Google is my friend, they store massive amounts of information about you, I do not think 187 requests is a government out of control. There are billions of searches everyday and hundreds of millions of web sites. 187 seems insignificant.

[seamusTX]

Probably the requests from U.S. agencies were reasonable. Copyright is U.S. law going back to the original constitution and widely acknowledged around the world. Harassment and defamation also are illegal.

The problem is, no one is trying to suppress videos of cute baby animals and poetry about the beauty of flowers and sunsets.

Governments try to suppress political opposition and minority viewpoints. Who knows how this action affects Christian Arabs, Tibetans, or Uighurs (a Muslim minority in western China)?

- Jim

[chasfm11]

My opinion: every abuse starts with the first time that it happens. The article clearly lays out the swelling number of countries that are requesting removal of items as a form of censorship. The example that they gave of the Canadian government wanting a YouTube video removed where the citizen is doing vial things to his Canadian passport is something to worry about. Some Western countries are into this more than others. Google seems to be pushing back somewhat but I worry what will happen if a government really resorts to some heavy duty arm twisting.

I'm not worried about US authorities requesting search information. The NSA setup that is online can probably capture that as well a Google can. But the fact that they are making the requests and that those requests, for the most part, are being granted, is still worrysome, at least to me. Sad to say but I plain don't trust my government and what was is 187 requests today could be 187,000 tomorrow.

When my kids were small, they would test me to see what they could get away with. The more that I gave in, the more that they pushed. I see a parallel.

[seamusTX]

The real problem with censorship is that you no longer know for sure what is truthful and what has been suppressed or edited.

In the book 1984, written over six decades ago, the job of the character Winston Smith was editing newspapers. He would use razor blades or scissors (I forget) to change previously published newspapers so that they conformed with the current politically correct position. The Soviet Union actually did similar things around that time.

The issue of what government can find out from Google is separate. In the U.S. the fourth and fifth amendments are still holding up pretty well except for issues around illegal drugs and money laundering. In other words, they can find out things about you, but they can't use them in court.

In other countries, it is possible for the government to find out information about political opponents and dissidents who then disappear in the night.

- Jim