Английская Википедия:Censorship by Google

Материал из Онлайн справочника
Перейти к навигацииПерейти к поиску

Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Multiple issues Google and its subsidiary companies, such as YouTube, have removed or omitted information from its services in order to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws.[1]

Numerous governments have asked Google to censor content. In 2012, Google ruled in favor of more than half the requests they received via court orders and phone calls. This did not include China or Iran, who completely blocked the site or one of its subsidiary companies.[2]

Google AdSense

Шаблон:See also In February 2003, Google stopped showing advertisements from Oceana, a non-profit organization protesting against a major cruise ship operation's sewage treatment practices. Google, citing its editorial policy, stated that "Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations."[3]

In April 2014, Google accepted ads from the pro-choice abortion lobbying group NARAL, but removed ads for some anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. Google removed the web search ads after an investigation by NARAL found evidence that the ads violated Google's policy against deceptive advertising. According to NARAL, people using Google to search for abortion clinics found advertisements for anti-abortion pregnancy crisis centers. Google stated that it had followed company procedures in applying its ad policy standards related to ad relevance, clarity, and accuracy.[4]

In September 2018, Google removed a paid advertisement from YouTube made by supporters of Russian opposition who urged Russians to participate in a protest set on September 9. Russia's Central Election Commission earlier sent a request to Google to remove the advertisement, saying it violated election laws that call for a "day of silence" on election matters ahead of voting, but the advertisement was blocked even in regions with no voting set on September 9 and in regions where authorities had authorized the pension-reform protests.[5]

Google Maps

Шаблон:See also

In March 2007, the lower-resolution satellite imagery on Google Maps showing post-Hurricane Katrina damage in Louisiana, US, was allegedly replaced with higher resolution images from before the storm.[6] Google's official blog post in April revealed that the imagery was still available in KML format on Google Earth or Google Maps.[7][8][9]

In March 2008, Google removed Street View and 360° images of military bases per the Pentagon's request.[10]

To protect the privacy and anonymity of individuals, Google selectively blurred photographs containing car license number plates and faces in Google Street View. Users may request further blurring of images that feature them, their family, their car, or their home. Users can also request the removal of images that feature what Google terms "inappropriate content," which falls under their categories of intellectual property violations; sexually explicit content; illegal, dangerous, or violent content; child endangerment; hate speech; harassment and threats; and personal or confidential information.[11] In some countries (e.g. Germany), Google modifies images of specific buildings.[12] In the United States, Google Street View adjusts or omits certain images deemed of interest to national security by the federal government.[10]

Google Search

Шаблон:See also Шаблон:Anchor

In the United States, Google commonly filters search results to comply with Digital Millennium Copyright Act-related legal complaints.[13]

In the United Kingdom, it was reported that Google had "delisted" Inquisition 21, a website that claims to challenge moral authoritarian and sexually absolutist ideas in the United Kingdom. Google later released a press statement suggesting Inquisition 21 had attempted to manipulate search results.[14] In Germany and France, a study reported that approximately 113 white nationalist, Nazi, antisemitic, Islamic extremist, and other similar websites had been removed from the German and French versions of Google.[15] Google has complied with these laws by not including sites containing such material in its search results. However, Google does list the number of excluded results at the bottom of the search result page and links to Lumen (formerly, Chilling Effects) for an explanation.[1]

Lolicon content

Шаблон:As of, Google censors "lolicon", a Japanese term meaning "attractive young girls",Шаблон:Sfn[16]Шаблон:Sfn on its search results, hiding results regarding lolicon material, even if the user types words along with the term which would typically lead to explicit content results; the terms "loli" and "lolita" also suffer from censorship in regards to this content.[17][18]

Removal of SafeSearch options

Шаблон:Main Шаблон:As of, in countries like the U.S., U.K., and Australia, Google removed the option to turn off the SafeSearch image filter entirely, forcing users to enter more specific search queries to get adult content. Prior to this change, three SafeSearch settings—"on", "moderate", and "off"—were available to users; after the change, they were replaced with two "Filter explicit results" settings—" on" and "off". The former and new "on" settings are similar and exclude explicit images from search results, while the new "off" setting still permits explicit images to appear in search results, but users need to enter more specific search requests, and no direct equivalent of the old "off" setting exists because adding additional explicit search terms alters search results. The change brings image search results in line with Google's existing settings for web and video search.[19][20][21]

Some users have stated that the lack of a completely unfiltered option amounts to censorship by Google. A Google spokesperson disagreed, saying that Google is "not censoring any adult content," but "want to show users exactly what they are looking for—but [Google policies] aim not to show sexually-explicit results unless a user is specifically searching for them".[22]


Online pharmacies

Following a settlement with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ending Google Adwords' advertising of Canadian pharmacies that permitted Americans to access cheaper prescriptions, Google agreed to several compliances and reporting measures to limit the visibility of "rogue pharmacies". Google and other members of the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies are collaborating to remove illegal pharmacies from search results and participating in "Operation Pangea" with the FDA and Interpol.[23][24]

Search suggestions

Шаблон:See also In January 2010, Google was reported to have stopped providing automatic suggestions for any search beginning with the term "Islam is", while it continued to do so for other major religions. According to Wired.com, a Google spokesperson stated, "This is a bug and we're working to fix it as quickly as we can."[25] Suggestions for "Islam is" were available later that month. The word "Bilderberg" and the family name "Buchanan" were also reportedly censored in the autocomplete results[26] but were available by February 2010 as well. Nonetheless, Google continues to filter certain words from autocomplete suggestions,[27] describing them as "potentially inappropriate".[28]

The publication 2600: The Hacker Quarterly has compiled a list of words that are restricted by Google Instant.[29] These are terms that the company's Instant Search feature will not search.[30][31] Most terms are often vulgar and derogatory in nature, but some apparently irrelevant searches including "Myleak" are removed.[31]

Шаблон:As of, Google's Autocomplete feature would not complete certain words such as "BitTorrent," "Torrent," "uTorrent," "Megaupload," and "Rapidshare", and Google actively censored search terms or phrases that its algorithm considered likely constituting spam or intending to manipulate search results.[32]

In September 2012, multiple sources reported that Google had removed "bisexual" from its list of blacklisted terms for Instant Search.[33]

In December 2022, Google was reported to have stopped providing automatic suggestions for any search with the term "protests in China", while it continued to do so for other countries.Шаблон:Citation needed

Ungoogleable

In 2013, the Swedish Language Council included the Swedish version of the word ungoogleable (Шаблон:Ill) in its list of new words.[34] It had "defined the term as something that cannot be found with any search engine".[35] Google objected to this definition, wanting it to only refer to Google searches, and the Council removed it in order to avoid a legal confrontation,[36] and accused Google of trying to "control the Swedish language".[37]

Leaked celebrity content

Шаблон:Main On 31 August 2014, almost 200 private pictures of various celebrities containing nudity and explicit content were made public on certain websites. Google removed most search results that linked users directly to such content shortly after.[38]

COVID-19 pandemic-related content

An Australian study found Google search results relating to COVID-19 were heavily curated, with no indication given to users that such curation was happening.[39] Google removed autocomplete suggestions for searches related to the COVID-19 lab leak theory.[40] Google also censored a public Google Docs document on efficacy of the drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, in favour of World Health Organization recommendations—some of which were themselves based on fraudulent data.[41] Шаблон:Unreliable source?

International

Australia

In January 2010, Google Australia removed links to satirical website Encyclopedia Dramatica's "Aboriginal" article, citing it as a violation of Australia's Racial Discrimination Act.[42] After the website's domain change in 2011, the article resurfaced in Google Australia's search results.

Canada

Шаблон:Main On 19 June 2014, Google was ordered by the Supreme Court of British Columbia to remove search results that linked to websites of a company called Datalink. The websites in question sell network device technology that Datalink is alleged to have stolen from Equustek Solutions. Google voluntarily removed links from google.ca, the main site used by Canadians, but the court granted a temporary injunction applying to all Google sites across the world.[43] Google argued that Canadian law could not be imposed across the world but was given until June 17, 2014, to comply with the court's ruling.[44]

China

Шаблон:Main

Google adhered to the Internet censorship policies of China,[45] enforced by means of filters colloquially known as "The Great Firewall," until March 2010. Google.cn search results were filtered to not display any results perceived to be harmful to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).Шаблон:Citation needed Google claimed that some censorship was necessary in order to keep the Chinese government from blocking Google entirely, which had happened in 2002.[46]Шаблон:Failed verification

Google claimed it did not plan to give the government information about users who searched for blocked content and would inform users that content had been restricted if they attempt to search for it.[47] Шаблон:As of, Google was the only major China-based search engine to explicitly inform the user when search results were blocked or hidden. Шаблон:As of, Google no longer informs the user of possible censorship for certain queries during a search.[48] The Chinese government had restricted citizens' access to popular search engines such as Altavista, Yahoo!, and Google in the past, though the complete ban has since been liftedШаблон:When. However, the government remains active in filtering Internet content. In October 2005, the Blogger platform and access to the Google cache was made available in mainland China; however, in December 2005, some mainland Chinese Blogger users reported that their access to the site was once again restrictedШаблон:Who.

In January 2006, Google agreed that China's version of Google, Google.cn, would filter certain keywords given to it by the Chinese government.[49] Google pledged to tell users when search results are censored and said that it would not "maintain any services that involve personal or confidential data, such as Gmail or Blogger, on the mainland".[50] Google said that it does not plan to give the government information about users who search for blocked content and will inform users that content has been restricted if they attempt to search for it. Searchers may encounter a message which states: "In accordance with local laws and policies, some of the results have not been displayed."[47] Google issued a statement saying that "removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission" but that the alternative — being shut down entirely and thereby "providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission."[49] Initially, both the censored Google.cn and the uncensored Chinese-language Google.com were available. In June 2006, however, China blocked Google.com again.[50]

Some Chinese Internet users were critical of Google for assisting the Chinese government in repressing its own citizens, particularly those dissenting against the government and advocating for human rights.[51] Furthermore, Google had been denounced and called hypocritical by Free Media Movement and Reporters Without Borders for agreeing to China's demands while simultaneously fighting the United States government's requests for similar information.[52] Google China had also been condemned by Reporters Without Borders,[52] Human Rights Watch,[53] and Amnesty International.[54]

On 14 February 2006, protesters organized a "mass breakup with Google" whereby users agreed to boycott Google on Valentine's Day to show their disapproval of the Google China policy.[55][56]

In June 2009, Google was ordered by the Chinese government to block various overseas websites, including some with sexually explicit content. Google was criticized by the China Illegal Information Reporting Center (CIIRC) for allowing search results that included content that was sexual in nature, and claimed the company was a dissemination channel for a "huge amount of porn and lewd content".[57]

On 12 January 2010, in response to an apparent hacking of Google's servers in an attempt to access information about Chinese dissidents, Google announced that "we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all."[58]

On 22 March 2010, after talks with Chinese authorities failed to reach an agreement, the company redirected its censor-complying Google China service to its Google Hong Kong service, which is outside the jurisdiction of Chinese censorship laws. However, at least as of March 23, 2010, "The Great Firewall" continues to censor search results from the Hong Kong portal, www.google.com.hk (as it does with the US portal, www.google.com) for controversial terms such as "Falun gong" and "the June 4th incident" (1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre).[59][60][61]

In August 2018, it was revealed that Google was working on a version of its search engine for use in China, which would censor content according to the restrictions placed by the Chinese government. This project was worked on by a small percentage of the company and was codenamed Dragonfly. A number of Google employees expressed their concern about the project, and several resigned.[62][63] In 2019, Google's vice president of public policy, Karan Bhatia, testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that the Dragonfly project had been terminated.[64]

In February 2023, Radio Free Asia reported that YouTube content satirizing CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping is routinely targeted for takedowns using YouTube's copyright infringement reporting system.[65]

European Union

In July 2014, Google began removing certain search results from its search engines in the European Union in response to requests under the right to be forgotten. Articles whose links were removed, when searching for specific personal names, included a 2007 blog by the BBC journalist Robert Peston about Stanley O'Neal, a former chairman of investment bank Merrill Lynch, being forced out after the bank made huge losses.[66] Peston criticized Google for "...cast[ing him] into oblivion".[67]

The Guardian reported that six of its articles, including three relating to a former Scottish football referee, had been "hidden".[68] Other articles, including one about French office workers using post-it notes and another about a collapsed fraud trial of a solicitor standing for election to the Law Society's ruling body, were affected.[69][70]

Sky News Australia reported that a story about Kelly Osbourne falling ill on the set of Fashion Police in 2013 had been removed.[71][72]

The Oxford Mail reported that its publishers had been notified by Google about the removal of links to the story of a conviction for shoplifting in 2006. The paper said it was not known who had asked Google to remove the search result, but there had been a previous complaint to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in 2010 concerning its accuracy, claimed that the report was causing "embarrassment", and requested that the story be taken off the paper's website. The paper said two factual amendments were made to the article and the PCC dismissed the complaint.[73][74]

An article about the conversion to Islam of the brother of George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was removed after a request to Google from an unknown person under the right-to-be-forgotten ruling.[75]

The Telegraph reported that links to a report on its website about claims that a former Law Society chief faked complaints against his deputy were hidden.[76][77] The search results for the articles for the same story in the Guardian and The Independent were also removed.[78][79] The Independent reported that its article, together with an article on the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and one on new trends in sofa design in 1998, had been removed.[80] The Telegraph also reported that links to articles concerning a student's 2008 drink-driving conviction and a 2001 case that resulted in two brothers each receiving nine-month jail terms for affray had been removed.[81]

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that some results were hidden over a 2008 news report[82] of a Spanish Supreme Court ruling involving executives of Riviera Coast Invest who were involved in a mortgage mis-selling scandal.[83]

On 5 July 2014, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported removal of a search result to an article about Scientology.[84][85]

On 19 August 2014, the BBC reported that Google had removed 12 links to stories on BBC News.[86]

Germany and France

On 22 October 2002, a study reported that approximately 113 Internet sites had been removed from the German and French versions of Google.[15] This censorship mainly affected White Nationalist, Nazi, antisemitic, Islamic extremist websites, and at least one fundamentalist Christian website.[87] Under French and German law, hate speech and Holocaust denial are illegal. In the case of Germany, violent or sex-related sites such as YouPorn and BME that the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien deems harmful to youth are also censored.

Google has complied with these laws by not including sites containing such material in its search results. However, Google does list the number of excluded results at the bottom of the search result page and links to Lumen (formerly known as Chilling Effects) for explanation.[1]

Sweden

In March 2018, Google delisted a WordPress hosted site from search results in Sweden,[88] following an intense media frenzy targeted against Google, YouTube, and Facebook by the tabloid Expressen and the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter.[89] The WordPress site lists Swedish Jews in the public sphere, and also agitates against the dominant publishing house Bonnier Group, the owner of both newspapers.

Although perfectly legal in Sweden, the WordPress site was described as antisemitic.[90] The Bonnier papers argued that Google should not promote such content and above all not at a high rank. Ministers in the Swedish green-left government agreed with this sentiment, and threatened with national and EU regulation unless Google adapt its algorithms and delist contents of "threats and hate" (hot och hat).[91] Google eventually delisted the site in Sweden due to copyright claims.Шаблон:When

Said papers also targeted the YouTube channel Granskning Sverige (Scrutiny Sweden) for its alleged extreme right-wing contents.[92] The channel was described as a "troll factory", where members called authorities, journalists and other public figures, and recut the recorded interviews to make them fit the channel's right-wing extremist world view.[93] The interviews were broadcast against a black backdrop with the channel logotype, and the occasional use of screen dumps from newspaper articles related to the interviews.[94] Google eventually complied with the demands,Шаблон:When and closed the channel, citing copyright infringement and violation of terms of agreement.[95]

On April 13, 2018, Google took part in a meeting with the Swedish government, to discuss the search company's role in the media landscape.[96] Minister of Justice, Morgan Johansson (Social Democrats), and Minister of Digitization, Peter Eriksson (Green Party), expressed concerns that "unlawful" and "harmful" content was facilitated by Google, and that "trolls" could have a negative impact on the upcoming Swedish parliamentary election. Google agreed to refine its algorithms, and also hire more staff to make sure "threats and hate" are eliminated from Google search and YouTube videos.[97] Critics have voiced concerns that private international companies are mandated to put censorship into effect to comply with local regulations without guidance from courts, and that free speech is deteriorating at an accelerating rate.[98][99][100]

India

In September 2016, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare revealed that Google had agreed to censor search results and advertising of prenatal sex discernment, which is illegal in India.[101]

Israel

Since 2015, Google removed certain search results that were defamatory in nature[102] from its search engine in Israel following gag orders.[103]

United Kingdom

On 21 September 2006,[14] it was reported that Google had "delisted" Inquisition 21, a website that claims to challenge moral authoritarian and sexually absolutist ideas in the United Kingdom. According to Inquisition 21, Google was acting "in support of a campaign by law enforcement agencies in the US and the UK to suppress emerging information about their involvement in major malpractice", allegedly exposed by their own investigation of any legal action against those who carried out Operation Ore, a far-reaching and much-criticized law enforcement campaign against the viewers of child pornography.[104][105] Google released a press statement suggesting Inquisition 21 had attempted to manipulate search results.[14]

United States

Google commonly removes search results to comply with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)-related legal complaints.[106]

In 2002, "in an apparent response to criticism of its handling of a threatening letter from a Church of Scientology lawyer," Google began to make DMCA "takedown" letters public, posting such notices on the Chilling Effects archive (now Lumen), which archives legal threats made against Internet users and Internet sites.[107]

In mid-2016, Google conducted a two-month standoff with writer Dennis Cooper after deleting his Blogger and Gmail accounts without warning or explanation following a single anonymous complaint. The case drew worldwide media attention, and finally resulted in Google returning Cooper's content to him.[108][109]

In mid-2018, Google permanently barred conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from using its subsidiary company YouTube. Jones' channel InfoWars responded by "accusing the companies of censorship".[110]

In mid-2019, Google allegedly suspended Tulsi Gabbard's advertisements for her presidential campaign, while the candidate was at the height of public interest.[111] Gabbard sued Google for $50 million in damages.[112]Шаблон:Update inline

Global blocking

Шаблон:See also In June 2017, the Canadian supreme court ruled that Google can be forced to remove search results worldwide. Civil liberties groups including Human Rights Watch, the BC Civil Liberties Association, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation argue that this would set a precedent for Internet censorship. In an appeal, Google argued that the global reach of the order was unnecessary and that it raised concerns over freedom of expression. While the court writes that "[They] have not, to date, accepted that freedom of expression requires the facilitation of the unlawful sale of goods", OpenMedia spokesman, David Christopher, warns that "there is great risk that governments and commercial entities will see this ruling as justifying censorship requests that could result in perfectly legal and legitimate content disappearing off the web because of a court order in the opposite corner of the globe".[113][114]

Google Play

Шаблон:See also On September 17, 2021, Google removed from its store the Smart Voting app used by the Russian opposition to coordinate its voting strategy against the ruling United Russia party during elections. The app was removed following threats from the Russian government.[115][116]

YouTube

Шаблон:See also YouTube, a video sharing website and subsidiary of Google, in its Terms of Service, prohibits the posting of videos which violate copyrights or depict pornography, illegal acts, gratuitous violence, hate speech, and what it deems to be misinformation about COVID-19.[117] User-posted videos that violate such terms may be removed and replaced with a message that reads, "This video has been removed due to a violation of our Terms of Service."

General censorship

In September 2007, YouTube blocked the account of Wael Abbas, an Egyptian activist who posted videos of police brutality, voting irregularities and antigovernmental demonstrations under the Mubarak regime.[118] Shortly afterward, his account was subsequently restored,[119] along with 187 of his videos.[120]

In 2006, Thailand blocked access to YouTube after identifying 20 offensive videos it ordered the site to remove.[1] In 2007, a Turkish judge ordered YouTube to be blocked in the country due to videos insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey (which falls under Article 301 prohibitions on insulting the Turkish nation).[1]

In February 2008, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority banned YouTube in the country, but the manner in which it performed the block accidentally prevented access to the website worldwide for several hours.[121] The ban was lifted after YouTube removed controversial religious comments made by a Dutch government official concerning Islam.[122][123]

In October 2008, YouTube removed a video by Pat Condell titled "Welcome to Saudi Britain"; in response, his fans re-uploaded the video themselves and the National Secular Society wrote to YouTube in protest.[124]

In 2016, YouTube launched a localized Pakistani version of its website for the users in Pakistan in order to censor content considered blasphemous by the Pakistan government as a part of its deal with the latter. As a result, the three-year ban on YouTube by the Pakistan government was subsequently lifted.[125][126]

In July 2017, YouTube began modifying suggested videos to debunk terrorist ideologies.[127] In August 2017, YouTube wrote a blog post explaining a new "limited state" for religious and controversial videos, which would not allow comments, likes, monetization, and suggested videos.[128]

In October 2017, PragerU sued YouTube, alleging violations of their freedom of speech under the First Amendment via YouTube's "arbitrary and capricious use of 'restricted mode' and 'demonetization' viewer restriction filters" to suppress their content. A U.S. district appeals court threw out the suit in February 2020, stating that despite "[its] ubiquity and its role as a public-facing platform", YouTube was still considered a private platform (the First Amendment only applies to state actors).[129]

In December 2017, what YouTubers referred to as the "AdPocalypse" took place, with YouTube's automated content policing tool began demonetizing content that ran afoul of the company's very-broad "Not Advertiser-Friendly" category.[130] The following April, numerous firearm-related channels began encountering additional policing by YouTube when new rules restricting videos "that facilitate private gun sales or link to websites that sell guns" were enacted.[130] As a result, popular firearms vlogger Hickok45's account was deleted (and subsequently reinstated after an outcry).[131]

In March 2018, The Atlantic found that YouTube had delisted a video where journalist Daniel Lombroso reported a speech by white nationalist Richard B. Spencer at the 2016 annual conference of the National Policy Institute, where they celebrated Donald Trump's win at the presidential election.[132] YouTube relisted the video after The Atlantic sent a complaint.

In June 2019, YouTube updated its hate speech policy to prohibit hateful and supremacist work, and limit the spread of violent extremist content online. The policy extends to content that justifies discrimination, segregation, or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status. It covers videos that, for example, include Nazi ideology, Holocaust denial, Sandy Hook conspiracy theories, or flat Earth theories. The policy also aims at reducing borderline content and harmful misinformation, such as videos promoting phony miracle cures for serious illnesses.[133]

In February 2020, YouTube reportedly began censoring any content related to the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) by removal or demonetization of the channel, citing the "sensitive topics" advertiser-friendly content guideline on Twitter.[134][135]

In 2020, Republican Senator Rand Paul criticized YouTube for removing a video of his floor speech which named the alleged Ukraine whistleblower.[136]

In October 2020, PewDiePie was allegedly shadow-banned by YouTube, which led to his channel and videos becoming unavailable on search results. However, YouTube denied shadow-banning him, although the human review was restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. YouTube was criticized by PewDiePie himself, his fans, other YouTubers, and netizens over this.[137][138]

In early February 2021, YouTube removed raw footage taken of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol by independent journalists like Ford Fischer from News2Share or from progressive media outlets such as Status Coup citing that the videos violated its policies on misinformation.[139][140][141] The same footage from the outlets was reused by large media organizations and still up on their YouTube accounts.[140][141] Some independent journalists including Fischer and other progressive outlets like The Progressive Soap Box (host Jamarl Thomas), Political Vigilante (Graham Elwood), Franc Analysis and The Convo Couch were demonetized by YouTube with some having their superchat feature blocked.[139][140] Fischer was later remonetized by YouTube after it acknowledged "over-enforcement".[140]

China-related content

Шаблон:See also At least since October 2019, YouTube has been automatically deleting any comments that contain the Chinese terms for "50 Cent Party" (五毛党) and its shortened version "50 Cent" (五毛). They have also been deleting any comments referring to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as "bandits" (共匪). In May 2020, YouTube made a statement to The Verge that these deletions were made "in error".[142][143]

In June 2021, MIT Technology Review and Reuters reported that YouTube removed videos of a human rights group documenting testimonies of the Uyghur genocide.[144][145]

In October 2023, Radio Free Asia reported that YouTube repeatedly removed channels satirizing General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping on the grounds of "cyberbullying".[146]

Advertiser-friendly content

YouTube policies restrict certain forms of content from being included in videos being monetized with advertising, including strong violence, language, sexual content, and "controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to wars, political conflicts, natural disasters, and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown", unless the content is "usually newsworthy or comedic and the creator's intent is to inform or entertain".[147]

On August 31st 2016, YouTube introduced a new system to notify users of violations of the "advertiser-friendly content" rules, and allow them to appeal. Following its introduction, many prominent YouTube users began to accuse the site of engaging in de facto censorship, arbitrarily disabling monetization on videos discussing various topics such as skincare, politics, and LGBT history. Philip DeFranco argued that not being able to earn money from a video was "censorship by a different name", while Vlogbrothers similarly pointed out that YouTube had flagged both "Zaatari: thoughts from a refugee camp" and "Vegetables that look like penises" (although the flagging on the former was eventually overturned).[147] The hashtag "#YouTubeIsOverParty" was prominently used on Twitter as a means of discussing the controversy. A YouTube spokesperson stated that "[w]hile [their] policy of demonetizing videos due to advertiser-friendly concerns hasn't changed, [they've] recently improved the notification and appeal process to ensure better communication to [their] creators."[148][149][150]

In March 2017, a number of major advertisers and prominent companies began to pull their advertising campaigns from YouTube over concerns that their ads were appearing on objectionable and/or extremist content, in what the YouTube community began referring to as a "boycott".[151][152] YouTube personality PewDiePie described these boycotts as an "adpocalypse", noting that his video revenue had fallen to the point that he was generating more revenue from YouTube Red subscription profit sharing (which is divided based on views by subscribers) than advertising.[153] On 6 April 2017, YouTube announced planned changes to its Partner Program, restricting new membership to vetted channels with a total of at least 10,000 video views. YouTube stated that the changes were made in order to "ensure revenue only flows to creators who are playing by the rules".[154]

Censorship of sexual content in Restricted Mode

In March 2017, the "Restricted Mode" feature was criticized by YouTube's LGBT community for filtering videos that discuss issues of human sexuality and sexual and gender identity, even when there is no explicit references to sexual intercourse or otherwise inappropriate content.[155][147][156] Rapper Mykki Blanco told The Guardian that such restrictions are used to make LGBT vloggers feel "policed and demeaned" and "sends a clear homophobic message that the fact that my video displays unapologetic queer imagery means it's slapped with an 'age restriction', while other cis, overly sexualised heteronormative work" remain uncensored.[156] Musicians Tegan and Sara similarly argued that LGBT people "shouldn't be restricted", after acknowledging that the mode had censored several of their music videos.[157]

YouTube later stated that a technical error on Restricted Mode wrongfully impacted "hundreds of thousands" LGBT-related videos.[158]

False positives

In February 2019, automated filters accidentally flagged several channels with videos discussing the AR mobile game Pokémon Go and the massively multiplayer online game Club Penguin for containing prohibited sexual content, as some of their videos contained references to "CP" in their title. In Pokémon Go, "CP" is an abbreviation of "Combat Power"—a level system in the game, and "CP" is an abbreviation of Club Penguin, but it was believed that YouTube's filters had accidentally interpreted it as referring to child pornography. The affected channels were restored, and YouTube apologized for the inconvenience.[159][160]

In August 2019, YouTube mistakenly took down robot fighting videos for violating its policies against animal cruelty.[161]

2007 anti-censorship shareholder initiative

On May 10, 2007, shareholders of Google voted down an anti-censorship proposal for the company. The text of the failed proposal submitted by the New York City comptroller's office, which controls a significant number of shares on behalf of retirement funds, stated that:

  1. Data that can identify individual users should not be hosted in Internet-restricting countries, where political speech can be treated as a crime by the legal system.
  2. The company will not engage in pro-active censorship.
  3. The company will use all legal means to resist demands for censorship. The company will only comply with such demands if required to do so through legally binding procedures.
  4. Users will be clearly informed when the company has acceded to legally binding government requests to filter or otherwise censor content that the user is trying to access.
  5. Users should be informed about the company's data retention practices and the ways in which their data is shared with third parties.
  6. The company will document all cases where legally-binding censorship requests have been complied with, and that information will be publicly available.

David Drummond, senior vice president for corporate development, said "Pulling out of China, shutting down Google.cn, is just not the right thing to do at this point... but that's exactly what this proposal would do."[162]

CEO Eric Schmidt and founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal. Together they hold 66.2 percent of Google's total shareholder voting power, meaning that they could themselves have declined the anti-censorship proposal.[163]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

In early March 2022, contractors who were working for Google and preparing translations for the Russian market received an update from Google: "Effective immediately, the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine could no longer be referred to as a war but rather only vaguely as 'extraordinary circumstances.'"[164][165] Thus, Google was trying to protect itself from Russian sanctions, as well as its employees from persecution within Russia, in connection with the new law, which provided up to 15 years in prison for any information about the war against Ukraine, except when officially announced by the Kremlin.[166]

Since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Google has been blocking Russian state-funded media such as RT and Sputnik,[167] and has also extended its censorship to non state-funded media outlets such as RBK by banning them entirely from the video-hosting platform YouTube. Thus said, Google has been blocking all Russian news outlets, citing that it represents a violation of their terms of services. Note that YouTube is a privately owned forum and freedom of speech does not necessarily apply,[168] which means that Google decided to use its capabilities in this case of Russian aggression. Google also acted upon a request of the European Union.[169]

See also

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Sources

External links

Шаблон:Censorship Шаблон:Google LLC Шаблон:Censorship and websites

  1. 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 Шаблон:Cite news
  2. Шаблон:Cite web
  3. Шаблон:Cite web
  4. Шаблон:Cite news
  5. Шаблон:Cite news
  6. Шаблон:Cite news
  7. Шаблон:Cite web
  8. Шаблон:Cite web
  9. Шаблон:Cite web
  10. 10,0 10,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  11. "Image Acceptance & Privacy Policies", Goggle Inc. Retrieved 2014-07-4.
  12. "German foreign minister joins criticism of Google's mapping program" Шаблон:Webarchive, Catherine Bolsover, Deutsche Welle, August 14, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  13. "Keyword: Google and the DMCA" Шаблон:Webarchive, Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
  14. 14,0 14,1 14,2 Шаблон:Cite news
  15. 15,0 15,1 Zittrain, Jonathan; Edelman, Benjamin. "Localized Google search result exclusions: Statement of issues and call for data Шаблон:Webarchive." Harvard Law School: Berkman Center for Internet & Society. October 22, 2002.
  16. Шаблон:Harvnb
  17. Шаблон:Cite news
  18. Шаблон:Cite web
  19. Шаблон:Cite news
  20. Шаблон:Cite web
  21. Шаблон:Cite web
  22. Шаблон:Cite web
  23. Шаблон:Cite web
  24. Шаблон:Cite web
  25. Шаблон:Cite news
  26. Шаблон:Cite web
  27. "Sex, Violence, and Autocomplete Algorithms: What words do Bing and Google censor from their suggestions?" Шаблон:Webarchive, Nicholas Diakopoulos, Future Tense (Slate), August 2, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  28. "Google Instant doesn't work" Шаблон:Webarchive, Google Search Help. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  29. Шаблон:Cite web
  30. Шаблон:Cite news
  31. 31,0 31,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  32. "Google Starts Censoring BitTorrent, RapidShare and More" Шаблон:Webarchive, Torrent Freak, January 26, 2011
  33. "Google Removes 'Bisexual' From Its List of Dirty Words" Шаблон:Webarchive, Michelle Garcia, Advocate.com, September 11, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  34. Шаблон:Cite news
  35. Шаблон:Cite news
  36. Шаблон:Cite news
  37. Шаблон:Cite newsШаблон:Cbignore
  38. Шаблон:Cite magazine
  39. Шаблон:Cite web
  40. Шаблон:Cite web
  41. Шаблон:Cite web
  42. Шаблон:Citation.
  43. Шаблон:Cite web
  44. "This company will no longer show up on Google's search results after court ruling" Шаблон:Webarchive, Business ETC, June 19, 2014.
  45. Шаблон:Cite news
  46. The Great Wall: China Against the World, 1000 BC–AD 2000 Шаблон:Webarchive, Julia Lovell, Grove/Atlantic, March 2007, Шаблон:ISBN
  47. 47,0 47,1 "Google move 'black day' for China Шаблон:Webarchive." BBC News. January 25, 2006.
  48. "Google quietly removed search warning message in China in early December 2012 Шаблон:Webarchive." Engadget. January 4, 2013
  49. 49,0 49,1 Google to censor itself in China Шаблон:Webarchive, CNN (January 26, 2006).
  50. 50,0 50,1 Justine Lau, A history of Google in China, Financial Times (July 9, 2010).
  51. "Google: Stop participating in China's Propaganda", Students for a Free Tibet, Yahoo! Groups, February 1, 2006
  52. 52,0 52,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  53. "3. Google, Inc." Шаблон:Webarchive in Race to the Bottom': Corporate Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship, Part IV. How Multinational Internet Companies assist Government Censorship in China, Human Rights Watch, Vol. 18 No. 8(C), August 2006
  54. "Google does not censor: take action to defend freedom of information" Шаблон:Webarchive, Amnesty International, May 10, 2006
  55. Fung, Amanda. "Midtown protest targets Google's China site Шаблон:Webarchive." New York Business. February 14, 2006.
  56. NO LUV 4 Google Website Шаблон:Webarchive.
  57. "Beijing blocks Google search results over pornography row" Шаблон:Webarchive, Aharon Etengoff, TG Daily (Velum Media), 19 June 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  58. Official Google Blog. "A new approach to China Шаблон:Webarchive" January 12, 2010
  59. Official Google Blog. "A new approach to China: an update Шаблон:Webarchive" March 22, 2010
  60. Шаблон:Cite web
  61. Шаблон:Cite news
  62. Шаблон:Cite news
  63. Шаблон:Cite news
  64. Шаблон:Cite web
  65. Шаблон:Cite news
  66. Шаблон:Cite web
  67. Шаблон:Cite web
  68. Шаблон:Cite web
  69. Шаблон:Cite web
  70. Шаблон:Cite web
  71. "Kelly Osbourne Leaves Hospital After Seizure" Шаблон:Webarchive, Sky News via Yahoo! News, 13 March 2013.
  72. "Google Starts Erasing Disputed Search Results" Шаблон:Webarchive, Sky News, 3 July 2014.
  73. Шаблон:Cite web
  74. Шаблон:Cite web
  75. Шаблон:Cite webШаблон:Cbignore
  76. Шаблон:Cite webШаблон:Cbignore
  77. Шаблон:Cite webШаблон:Cbignore
  78. Шаблон:Cite web
  79. Шаблон:Cite web
  80. Шаблон:Cite web
  81. Шаблон:Cite webШаблон:Cbignore
  82. "Prisión bajo fianza para dos directivos de Riviera" Шаблон:Webarchive ["Prison on bail for two directors of Riviera"] Шаблон:In lang, El Mundo, 16 September 2008. English translation.
  83. "ELMUNDO.es recibe su primer aviso de eliminación de resultados en Google por el 'derecho al olvido' " Шаблон:Webarchive ["ELMUNDO.es receive your first notice of removal results in Google for the 'right to be forgotten' "] Шаблон:In lang, Pablo Romero, El Mundo, 16 July 2014. English translation Шаблон:Webarchive.
  84. "Recht auf Vergessen: Google entfernt SPIEGEL-Artikel aus Suchergebnissen" Шаблон:Webarchive [Right to be forgotten: Google removed SPIEGEL article from search results] Шаблон:In lang, Ole Reißmann, Spiegel Online, 4 July 2014. English translation Шаблон:Webarchive. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  85. "Wie tausend Metastasen" Шаблон:Webarchive [Like a thousand metastases] Шаблон:In lang, Der Spiegel, 15 May 1995. English translation Шаблон:Webarchive. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  86. "Google removes 12 BBC News links in 'right to be forgotten' " Шаблон:Webarchive, Edwin Lane, BBC News, 19 August 2014.
  87. Error page Шаблон:Webarchive, Google France, Шаблон:In lang, "Aucun document ne correspond aux termes de recherche spécifiés (site:jesus-is-lord.com). En réponse à une demande légale adressée à Google, nous avons retiré 391 résultat(s) de cette page. Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur cette demande Шаблон:Webarchive, vous pouvez consulter le site ChillingEffects.org." ("No documents match the specified search (site: jesus-is-lord.com). In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 391 result(s) from this page. If you want to know more about this application , you can consult the ChillingEffects.org site."). Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  88. Шаблон:Cite web
  89. Шаблон:Cite news
  90. Шаблон:Cite web
  91. Шаблон:Cite web
  92. Шаблон:Cite web
  93. Шаблон:Cite web
  94. Шаблон:Cite web
  95. Шаблон:Cite web
  96. Шаблон:Cite news
  97. Шаблон:Cite news
  98. Шаблон:Cite web
  99. Шаблон:Cite web
  100. Шаблон:Cite web
  101. Шаблон:Cite news
  102. Шаблон:Cite web
  103. Articles in HaAyin HaShevi'it (in Hebrew): [1] Шаблон:Webarchive, [2] Шаблон:Webarchive, [3] Шаблон:Webarchive, [4] Шаблон:Webarchive.
  104. "Contact and about" Шаблон:Webarchive, Inquisition 21st century, 8 May 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  105. "Chapter 16. Our raid on Texas" Шаблон:Webarchive, Inquisition 21st century, 11 March 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  106. Шаблон:Cite web
  107. Шаблон:Cite web
  108. Шаблон:Cite news
  109. Шаблон:Cite news
  110. Шаблон:Cite news
  111. Шаблон:Cite news
  112. Шаблон:Cite news
  113. Шаблон:Cite news
  114. Шаблон:Cite web
  115. Шаблон:Cite web
  116. Шаблон:Cite web
  117. Шаблон:Cite web
  118. Шаблон:Cite news
  119. Шаблон:Cite news
  120. Шаблон:Cite news
  121. Шаблон:Cite web
  122. Шаблон:Cite web
  123. Шаблон:Cite web
  124. Шаблон:Cite newsШаблон:Cbignore
  125. Шаблон:Cite web
  126. Шаблон:Cite web
  127. Шаблон:Cite web
  128. Шаблон:Cite web
  129. Шаблон:Cite web
  130. 130,0 130,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  131. Шаблон:Cite web
  132. YouTube Removes the 'Hail, Trump' Video From Search Шаблон:Webarchive - Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 20 March 2018
  133. Шаблон:Cite news
  134. Шаблон:Cite web
  135. Шаблон:Cite web
  136. Шаблон:Cite news
  137. Шаблон:Cite web
  138. Шаблон:Cite web
  139. 139,0 139,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  140. 140,0 140,1 140,2 140,3 Шаблон:Cite news
  141. 141,0 141,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  142. Шаблон:Cite web
  143. Шаблон:Cite web
  144. Шаблон:Cite news
  145. Шаблон:Cite news
  146. Шаблон:Cite web
  147. 147,0 147,1 147,2 Шаблон:Cite news
  148. Шаблон:Cite web
  149. Шаблон:Cite web
  150. Шаблон:Cite web
  151. Шаблон:Cite news
  152. Шаблон:Cite news
  153. Шаблон:Cite web
  154. Шаблон:Cite web
  155. Шаблон:Cite news
  156. 156,0 156,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  157. Шаблон:Cite web
  158. Шаблон:Cite news
  159. Шаблон:Cite news
  160. Шаблон:Cite web
  161. Шаблон:Cite web
  162. Шаблон:Cite web
  163. PC World:Google Asks Shareholders to Permit Censorship Шаблон:Webarchive
  164. Шаблон:Cite web
  165. Шаблон:Cite web
  166. Шаблон:Cite news
  167. Шаблон:Cite web
  168. Шаблон:Cite news
  169. Шаблон:Cite news