Why Google Must Stand Firm: Putin Pushes the Dangerous
"Right To Be Forgotten" Further Into Lunatic Land
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001109.html
A week ago, in my latest discussion of the nightmarish EU "Right To Be
Forgotten" (RTBF), titled "Just Say 'NON!' - France Demands Right of
Global Google Censorship" ( http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001106.html ),
I once again emphasized the "camel's nose under the tent" aspect of RTBF,
and how we should have every expectation that Russia, China, and
other repressive regimes would make similar demands and attempt to
have them implemented as global censorship by Google.
Well, that didn't take very long at all.
Indeed, Russia (and that means Czar Putin) is on the cusp of a vast
RTBF law of their own, that makes the awful EU version look like a
picnic by comparison.
(
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/06/17/russia-proposes-strict-online-right-to-be-forgotten/
)
In the proposed "Soviet" version of RTBF, complainants wouldn't even
have to specify links of concern, just vague topic areas. And unlike
in Europe, even public figures could demand that Google and other
search engine results be whitewashed to remove unflattering or
revealing references.
Meanwhile, word comes from France that they might want Google to
individually track French users wherever they go in the world so that
they can be specifically subjected to EU RTBF censorship anywhere and
everywhere. "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity?" Hogwash.
If this wasn't obvious before, it should be obvious to everyone with
half a brain by now -- the power to censor Google and other search
engines placed into the hands of governments -- any governments
regardless of political orientations -- is the freedom of speech
destroying equivalent of handing nuclear weapons to terrorists.
Throughout recorded history, governments have wanted to control
information, and the technology at hand provides them with a
relatively easy means of finally fulfilling that frightful fetish.
No matter how much Google and others might try negotiate or compromise
in good faith with governments on this topic, the latter will
ultimately demand ever more censorship and ever more direct control
over search results. There will simply be no end to it.
It is absolutely crucial to the future of free speech and broader
civil liberties around the world that Google stand firm against the
encroachment of ever more damaging and berserk RTBF laws and demands.
This is true even if it requires significant changes in some
underlying business models. Because ultimately if RTBF is permitted to
continue on its current course of escalating censorship, those
business models are going to be significantly decimated in much more
damaging ways -- damaging to Google itself and incredibly destructive
to the global community that depends on Google to do the right thing
in difficult situations. Google must obey the law, but it also has
considerable latitude in how and where it chooses to operate --
latitude that can be very relevant to the RTBF and other censorship
issues now at hand.
We're depending on Google to set an example against the pages of
useless, lowest common denominator search results that will be the
inevitable result of RTBF laws continuing on their present course --
like a tidal wave leaving nothing but rubble in its wake.
We're standing at the crossroads of perhaps the most critical
information freedom juncture in history since the invention and spread
of the printing press.
There is no room for error.
Do this right, Google. I know you can.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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