Is Google Profiting from Child Pornography? - Why it Won’t Stand Up
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So, any laws applicable to a mall owner don’t apply here. Which ones do? There’s a code called 47 USC 230, of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Under the section labeled “Protection for ‘Good Samaritan’ Blocking and Screening of Offensive Material,” we find that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Translation: Google cannot be treated as a child pornographer itself, even if child pornography crosses its network – at least, not so long as Google doesn’t know about it.
More important is the section on civil liability. Here we learn that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected…” Translation: Google’s SafeSearch and its diligence in removing child pornography from its index, as well as reporting it to the appropriate authorities, means that Google cannot be held liable, because it’s doing everything it can reasonably be expected to do to remove child pornography from its index and keep people from seeing it.
There are other reasons this complaint won’t stand up in a court of law, but 47 USC 230 seems the clearest. So why did this complaint even come up in the first place? What exactly is Toback after? Well, according to the complaint, he wants to compel Google to stop:
- advertising, promoting, or distributing any child pornography through its website;
- displaying any links to websites that display, market or provide any access to child pornography;
- providing access on its website to any website that distributes, displays or markets child pornography;
- violating state and federal statutes relating to child pornography;
- permitting illegal and criminal activities from persisting, unabated, on and through its website property;
- permitting users to access the Google website without Google first posting conspicuous warnings that users who attempt to search for, access, distribute, or market child pornography are subject to monitoring and reporting to law enforcement agencies; and
- operating the Google website without offering users effective technological tools that will restrict access to child pornography.
I’m not convinced that’s what Toback really wants, though. He calls himself a “Quality of Life Guy” in the bio he gives on the NassauCountyNY.gov website. He’s helped to preserve open and recreational spaces, and pushed legislation banning smoking in all restaurants, bars, and workplaces in the county. He’s proposed a law to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco to 19. He co-sponsored a law that requires anyone under the age of 18 who wants to use a tanning booth to get signed, written consent from his or her parent. He’s working on a law that bans the sale of toy guns in the county.
In short, this is a man who seems to be making his career on cries of “We must protect our children!” Protecting our children is all well and good, but if you’re going to do that, you’d better understand the technology you’re dealing with, and what you’re trying to protect them from. With this complaint, Toback has shown that he understands neither, let alone all the issues involved. Let’s hope he gets exactly the kind of day in court – and at the polls – that he deserves.
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