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Miscellaneous See other Miscellaneous Articles Title: Google report on government internet censorship Many of us like to think of the Internet as a hub of free speech and unlimited content—an anything-goes sort of space where you can find almost any information. But plenty of us trying to look up a YouTube video of our favorite song or a sleepy cat have encountered that error message that the video has been removed or the link is no longer active. Sometimes the reason will be copyright infringement. But other times no reason is given at all. Ever wonder why? Google has the answers... In 2009, Internet giant Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) released its first biannual Transparency Report, offering information about government censorship requests and the company's rate of compliance. The company receives hundreds of requests every year from nations across the globe for removal of videos (the company owns YouTube), links, blog posts, and other content that is in some way considered dangerous, a threat, inappropriate, or an infringement of copyright. Its latest report for the six months ending December 2011 was released on Sunday. And what might come as the bigger surprise is that many requests come from Western nations. From Google's Official Blog: We noticed that government agencies from different countries would sometimes ask us to remove political content that our users had posted on our services. We hoped this was an aberration. But not we know it's not. This is the fifth data set that we've released. And just like every other time before, we've been asked to take down political speech. 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. The first time Google's Transparency Report was released, the United States had submitted 123 requests for content removal. Google complied in full or part with 80% of these. This time around, however, Google only complied in some way with 42% of the 187. As an American company, Google is required to follow the nation's law. If content violates the law and the request comes with a court order, Google is more likely to take action. Things like pornography and terrorism fall under this category. Google is particularly vigilant about flagged content, especially when it deals with terrorist threats, bomb making, or something similar. Other requests, however, aren't as threatening and are often rejected. For the last reported six month period, Google disclosed the following: We received a request from the Government of Pakistan's Ministry of Information Technology to remove six YouTube videos that satirized the Pakistan Army and senior politicians. We did not comply with this request. We received a request from the Passport Canada office to remove a YouTube video of a Canadian citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet. We did not comply with this request. And though Google can refuse to remove content on its own, it can't prevent some countries from censoring the content. China and Iran, for example, often censor Google and the availability of searches. But the rise in requests from Western countries like the U.S., a nation that prides itself on the freedom of speech and expression, will really make you wonder what it is the government doesn't want you to see—and why. +8 Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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