Google said it had received 461 court orders for the removal of 6,989 items, consenting to 68 percent of those orders. It also received 546 informal requests, complying with 46 percent of those requests. The study doesn’t reflect censorship activity from countries such as China and Iran, which block content without notifying Google.
Among the take-down requests was a Polish demand for removal of an article critical of a development agency, a Spanish request for removal of 270 blogs and links to articles critical of the public figures, and a Canadian official’s request for removal of a YouTube video of a man urinating on his passport and flushing it down a toilet. All were denied.
However, the company said it complied with the majority of requests from Thai authorities for the removal of 149 YouTube videos that allegedly insulted the monarchy, a violation of Thailand law. The Web giant said it also granted U.K. police requests for removal of five YouTube accounts that allegedly promoted terrorism. Google also said it complied with 42 percent of U.S. requests for the removal of 187 pieces of content, most of which were related to harassment.
More:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57454920-93/google-sees-alarming-level-of-government-censorship/
See also:
Last Year Google Rejected 610,000 Websites And Disapproved 134 Million Ads
http://vrritti.com/2012/05/26/last-year-google-rejected-610000-websites-and-disapproved-134-million-ads/
Facebook blocks 200 million malicious actions, such as messages linking to malware, on a daily basis
http://vrritti.com/2012/01/05/facebook-blocks-200-million-malicious-actions-such-as-messages-linking-to-malware-on-a-daily-basis/
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, PayPal and others are working together on a standard that can be used across the Internet for filtering and blocking phishing e-mails
http://vrritti.com/2012/01/30/google-facebook-microsoft-yahoo-paypal-and-others-are-working-together-on-a-standard-that-can-be-used-across-the-internet-for-filtering-and-blocking-phishing-e-mails/
Facebook’s algorithm has apparently started blocking comments it deems “irrelevant or inappropriate”
http://vrritti.com/2012/05/06/facebooks-algorithm-has-apparently-started-blocking-comments-it-deems-irrelevant-or-inappropriate/
#OccupyWallStreet demonstrates that there are many ways to intentionally, accidentally or unconsciously but automatically disrupt the free flow of information
http://vrritti.com/2011/10/03/occupywallstreet-demonstrates-that-there-are-many-ways-to-intentionally-accidentally-or-unconsciously-but-automatically-disrupt-the-free-flow-of-information/
Big Content may not even be looking to eradicate 100% the piracy problem, much like Big Data is not looking to eradicate 100% of the botnet, spam, malware, ‘bad’ apps or illegal advertising problem. It’s about limiting damages…limiting costs due to piracy or other illegal activities online. Technical solutions for online illegallity need to be able to at least achieve that goal.
http://vrritti.com/2012/05/28/much-worse-than-the-loss-of-freely-accessible-pirated-files-is-the-loss-of-freely-accessibly-attractive-websites-in-general/
