Politics prime target in take-down requests: Google

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Politics prime target in take-down requests: Google

Published: 18 Jun 2012 at 11.48
Online news: Asia

Political commentary remains a prime target as governments increase the number of requests for the removal of material from the reach of internet users, online search giant Google has reported.

Political commentary remains a prime target as governments increase the number of requests for Google to remove material from the reach of Internet users.

The Internet giant on Sunday released its fifth semi-annual Transparency Report providing insights into requests by countries around the world to "take down" content from search results or Google venues such as YouTube.

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homosapien
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Discussion 7 : 19 Jun 2012 at 00.077
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If you give the authority to governments to ban contents deemed 'contrary to public order and morality' at their discretion; then, given their incentive and constraints (or lack thereof), don't expect them to always act in your best interests --- though sometimes their interests may chime with yours.

So, it's far better for us to not tamper with freedom of expression at all, provided an expression in question has no immediate oppressive effect on such freedom itself. (That monotoring surely requires some degree of discretion of a government, but still it's much more limited than is currently the case.)
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dao
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Discussion 6 : 18 Jun 2012 at 22.226
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Weal morality and thin skin lead to censorship .
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kena
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Discussion 5 : 18 Jun 2012 at 20.315
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It's a reflection of how insecure a government is. Such insecurity manifests in heavy handed 'thought-control'
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abbub
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Discussion 4 : 18 Jun 2012 at 20.254
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800,000 web pages blocked since the 2006 coup. Come on guys, who are trying to kid suggesting things were worse in terms of censorship before the coup? If you want to sound credible at least show a hint of balance in your comments.

I could mention other proofs of right-wing politically motivated censorship on the increase but cannot do so.
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englishbob
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Discussion 3 : 18 Jun 2012 at 18.493
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I don't know if it's increasing, but it's definitely not decreasing, which kind of puts a dent in Peua Thai fans' claims of their party being 'more virtuous'.
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banmebkk
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Discussion 2 : 18 Jun 2012 at 18.022
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Thank god the Dems removed the clause in the 2007 Constitution which gave the government the right to revoke media licenses. I think that was a huge step forward which disable the government from using that law to pressure media in to toning done their criticisms.
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bkposter
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Discussion 1 : 18 Jun 2012 at 16.441
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and the censorship is increasing in Thailand.
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Politics prime target in take-down requests: Google | Bangkok Post: news