25 signatures reached
To: Viviane Reding, Vice-President, Directorate General for Justice, European Commission
EU: Leave Google censorship notifications alone!
Dear Ms Reding,
I read on Reuters that you are investigating Google "over their handling of "right to be forgotten" requests. One issue raised by the EU watchdogs was Google's decision to notify the owners of the websites that have been removed from search results."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/24/us-google-eu-privacy-idUSKBN0FT1AZ20140724
Apparently "this sparked controversy three weeks ago when Europe's most popular search engine removed links to an article by a well-known BBC journalist about an ex-Wall Street banker and several links to stories in Britain's Guardian newspaper." Indeed it did. I was most disconcerted to read Robert Peston's story, as the huge implications of the right to be forgotten ruling became clear to me.
I want to be notified by Google if someone demands them to censor my work. Don't you? Doesn't everyone?
We demand transparency about censorship, and that Google not be restrained from notifying censored individuals.
Why is this important?
The Internet is the world's greatest platform for free speech. I accept the need to censor a few things, but not the need to do so in secret. Far from it. Why should the applicant have an automatic right to censor another's work without being held accountable for doing so?
