Search Censorship

Do We Need Or Want Search Censorship?

Some people are offended by the search results returned by Google and other search engines. Further, some people believe that because a site offends them that site should be removed from the search results.

This subject has even made the Fox Report and other TV news shows and has appeared in many newspapers.

Filtering search results for the general viewing audience is the same as censorship. If search engines refuse to display sites that are offensive to someone, few sites will be displayed.

Yes, there are some sites that are offensive to me and I think are generally in poor taste. However, if those sites do not incite illegal actions or promote unlawful activities, they have a right to be displayed despite some people’s objections.

The Internet is not the province of one nation; it is global and the responsibility of all governments. Some governments refuse to have displayed certain sites that promote hatred, promote certain organizations, and criminal activities. But other governments may not want those sites banned from search results because the site’s activity may be acceptable within their borders.

Results considered proper in one country may not be proper in another country. I’m sure China doesn’t like any site that promotes individual freedom or denigrates their form of government. But to disallow those sites to which China objects for every nation would be wrong.

Search engines should not be censors for any specific government or racial or ethnic group. Search engines must provide a compilation of all existing sites.

Does this mean the Internet needs an international body to define unacceptable topics? Perhaps a committee of the UN? But would such a concept really work? If search engines are required to filter sties that offend someone, the Internet will be destroyed.

Governments cannot and do not agree on what is acceptable so we might as well kill the Internet now.

Of course this might be what some groups or governments want.