NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Google agrees to court order in India to remove content
Google agrees to court order in India to remove content The Indian
government wants Google and other Internet companies to evolve a
mechanism to quickly remove objectionable content
http://j.mp/zkVSqH (IT World)
"Google has agreed before a court in Delhi to remove religious and
other content considered objectionable, though some other Internet
firms are likely to appeal the court's decision, plaintiff Mufti Ajiaz
Arshad Qasmi said on Monday. Qasmi, a private citizen, had filed a
civil suit against Google and other Internet companies including
Facebook, objecting to certain content on their websites. The content
is said to mock gods worshipped in India. He is now pressing the
companies to put in place technology for filtering out content that is
considered objectionable."
- - -
While I certainly acknowledge the need to obey court orders if
business is to continue in the same way in those countries, I also
must continue to point out the slippery slope aspects of such
arrangements. Repressive governments (and even governments not
normally thought of as repressive) will be unable to restrain their
escalating desire to control all manner of Internet content, indeed
leading perhaps to a "preapproval" regime where nearly anyone in a
country could block content for pretty much any reason. A shadow of
Orwell, indeed. And at the risk of invoking Godwin, imagine what some
historically repressive regimes could have done with such capabilities
to cover up all manner of atrocities from their own people. This is
the big risk with institutionalized local censorship -- it sweeps
censorship under the rug for the rest of the world, while the people
most at risk get hammered in their own country, in a vicious circle of
escalating censorship demands.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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