Google has officially declined the request from the Hong Kong police to remove content from their website. In the second half of 2014, the police force in Hong Kong requested the removal of 24 pieces of web content, including a video showing police brutality.
Hong Kong Police Claim They Did Not Assault Civilians
According to the Technology Crime Division of the Hong Kong Police’s Commercial Crime Bureau, the video in question ‘spreads a false message that the police attacked a person under arrest in a police car’. The report did not state the details of the video.
The government made three initial requests for item removal, which Google ignored. Two other additional requests were issued, this time with court orders, and Google ended up removing half of the items listed.
Google Has Received More than 3,000 Requests from Governments to Remove Content
The company is no stranger to government demands. Between July and December of 2014, Google received requests to remove more than 25,000 items. This content came from Youtube, Blogger and the web search results. Of the Youtube requests, 2,343 in total, only 6,061 were removed. About a thousand of them were removed for legal reasons, and the remaining items violated Youtube’s guidelines.
33% of the requests made by governments for content removal cited ‘defamation’ as the main offense. 16% of them were requested to be removed because of drug abuse, and another 14% cited issues with privacy and security.
Google Appropriately Sticks it to the Man
The company has never been known to be one to stand behind governments. The nature of the internet makes it so that requests like these cannot always be fulfilled. The good, the bad and the ugly are in full display on the Internet. While Google is protecting privacy and is abiding by its own guidelines, it is no babysitter, and it is not a regulator of content. It’s not likely that Google will heed to all of the Hong Kong police department’s demands. There is a higher chance that the company will do its best to protect itself and the internet itself.
Google Sticks its Tongue Out At Hong Kong Police
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