14 DAY TRIAL // Every time a company is involved into a censorship matter, the problem is quickly turned into a serious one because it might affect its image and attract consumers' criticism. Because of that, the Mountain View company Google always tries to clarify these matters through official statements published by its representatives. This time, Vint Cerf, one of the Google chiefs, said that Google has no fault for the restrictions applied to some of the web content because it only does so when it is forced by the authorities or by other organizations.
"I think of the internet as a road system. When you invent a road system, the next thing that happens is other people invent vehicles and figure out what buildings to put on the sides of the roads. I don't have any control over that, and I don't have any responsibility for it either. If it's concluded that the act of putting [content] on the internet is illegal, then something could and should be done about it," Vint Cerf said for BBC Radio according to Times Online. "We need to be very careful about what is inhibited. Where on this slippery slope to do you draw the line?"
As you know, Google was involved in censorship matters by two of its top solutions: Google Earth and YouTube. First of all, there was the downloadable mapping tool that attracted the Internet consumers' criticism after the parent company blurred several regions of the maps. Moreover, the New Orleans authorities attacked Google because it removed the pictures captured after the hurricane Katrina assaulted the city. At that time, the search giant replaced the photos with older ones, captured before the Katrina tragedy.
YouTube caused even more trouble for the search giant. It's well known the fact the Google video sharing platform was often brought in the spotlights due to the copyright infringement complaints made by other companies.
"Most of the content on the internet is contributed by users, so what we see there is a reflection of the society we live in. Maybe it's important for us to look at that society and try to do something about it. When you have a problem [with what you see] in the mirror, you don't fix the mirror. You fix that which is reflected in the mirror," the Google official added according to the same source.