Google's Gatekeepers

The New York Times ^ | November 28, 2008 | Jeffrey Rosen

[CE2949BB]

In 2006, Thailand announced it was blocking access to YouTube for anyone with a Thai I.P address, and then identified 20 offensive videos for Google to remove as a condition of unblocking the site.

‘If your whole game is to increase market share,’ says Lawrence Lessig, speaking of Google, ‘it’s hard to . . . gather data in ways that don’t raise privacy concerns or in ways that might help repressive governments to block controversial content.’

In March of last year, Nicole Wong, the deputy general counsel of Google, was notified that there had been a precipitous drop in activity on YouTube in Turkey, and that the press was reporting that the Turkish government was blocking access to YouTube for virtually all Turkish Internet users. Apparently unaware that Google owns YouTube, Turkish officials didn’t tell Google about the situation: a Turkish judge had ordered the nation’s telecom providers to block access to the site in response to videos that insulted the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, which is a crime under Turkish law. Wong scrambled to figure out which videos provoked the court order and made the first in a series of tense telephone calls to Google’s counsel in London and Turkey, as angry protesters gathered in Istanbul. Eventually, Wong and several colleagues concluded that the video that sparked the controversy was a parody news broadcast that declared, “Today’s news: Kamal Ataturk was gay!” The clip was posted by Greek football fans looking to taunt their Turkish rivals.

[RobinOfKingston]

Greece should block youtube until the video in question is restored. Better still, everyone should block youtube until google breathes its final, ragged breath.

[kittycatonline.com]

I think most folks don't realize how much Google shapes public opinion. The MSM is dangerous, but everybody knows they spin and slant. Most folks take Google as some sort of unbiased, autonomous machine that searches the web for what you type in. Little do they realize it's got editors, it's got a political agenda.

Just try search images.google.cn for 天安门 ("tiananmen" in Simplified Chinese) vs. searching images.google.com for "tiananmen". Look different to you?

Google is taking in millions upon millions to help dictatorships and corrupt regimes worldwide to spin and shape the World Wide Web into what the despots want it to be. In short, you cannot trust Google to deliver what's truly out there to you.

[KoRn]

The more I learn and read about them, the more I believe Google is slime. They help every dictator and authoritarian government they can when the money is right, and promote a liberal agenda here at home.

They are increasingly looking like the enemy of all that is good on the internet.

[AmericanGirlRising]

When discussing the negative power and influence of Google, the test that never fails is to ask them to search Google Images for “Hurricane Katrina.” In 38 pages of results there is not a single image of any of the violence that erupted in New Orleans after the flood.

Try searching “Hurricane Katrina violence” and you get 9 pages of images none of which include any images of the widespread violence and carnage.

As someone who went to New Orleans 3 weeks after the floods, the blood was still on the streets and the bullet holes were everywhere.

Google is attempting to rewrite history to suit their leftist political agenda. I won’t use their search, email, analytics, etc. It’s time for some stiff competition and stock selling.

[HelloooClareece]

I refuse to Google.

I’m using Dogpile.com as my search engine and as an added benefit every time I click on a link money is made for the ASPCA. Works for me.