14 DAY TRIAL // The internet was supposed to be the great unifier, the one technology which enables everyone to express themselves without fear of oppression. But as more and more governments around the world finally wake up to this, they're moving to seize control of the web one way or another, sometimes for misguided reasons other times for more disingenuous ones.
Spain's data protection authority has ordered Google to remove 100 links from the search results to protect individuals' privacy, after receiving complaints.
Google has understandably moved to fight the order in the courts and will get a hearing later this week. If unsuccessful, it would be forced to remove the results for users in Spain.
The data protection authority is apparently moving to protect people's privacy. The thinking is that people should have the right to leave their past behind, something that's increasingly harder to do in a world where any information is seconds away.
However, the agency can't force the newspapers actually holding the material found to be breaching the privacy of some to take down the content without a court order.
As such, it's going after Google to cut out the middle man. Seemingly, the idea is that if people won't find the content in the Google search results, even if the articles are still on the newspapers' websites, the privacy of those involved will be protected. It's unclear whether the data protection agency asked other search engines to do the same.
There are many, many problems with this. The move would amount to nothing more than censorship in a country that deems itself democratic. It also goes after a third party and not the ones actually involved. What's more, it's bound to do little to protect the privacy of those complaining.
"We are disappointed by the actions of the Spanish privacy regulator. Spanish and European law rightly hold the publisher of the material responsible for its content," Peter Barron, Google's director of external relations for Europe, told the Guardian.
"Requiring intermediaries like search engines to censor material published by others would have a profound, chilling effect on free expression without protecting people's privacy," he added.