The Free Internet Project

June 2015

Google recognizes a private right to be forgotten for victims of revenge porn

June 19, 2015.  Google announced today it is recognizing what amounts to a private right to be forgotten for victims of revenge porn.  Revenge porn involves the publishing of nude photos of people without their consent, typically by ex-significant others who would like "revenge" against their former lovers.  Even though there is no legal right to be forgotten in the United States, Google has effectively recognized a private right to be forgotten as a matter of its own code of conduct or policy.

Russia closer to passing right to be forgotten law

Russia's Duma voted in favor of a bill recognizing a right to be forgotten in Russia, by a 423 in favor and 1 against.  If enacted, the law would give people the right to request search engines to remove links to articles containing personal information about them that is erroneous or false. If the bill is finally passed, it would go into effect in Jan. 2016. Critics fear the law would enable politicians and others to censor truthful information about them. [via Global Voices, June 16, 2015]

Russia considers new right to be forgotten law

Russia is considering enacting a new law that recognizes a right to be forgotten in Russia, similar to the EU right to be forgotten. According to the Russia Insider, the Russian RTBF could be invoked if the information in the article is “misleading or distributed in violation of the law."  Russian presidential aide Igor Shchyogolev reportedly is pushing for the enactment of the law. Critics fear that a RTBF law will be used by the Russian government to further its censorship of the Internet, however, especially given that the proposed RTBF law would be enforced by the state communications regulator Roskomnadzor, which already has power to order the blocking of websites.

Google appeals Mexico's right to be forgotten decision in favor of Carlos Sánchez de la Peña related to family business dealings

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is appealing of January 2015 decision of Mexico’s Federal Institute for the Access to Information, which ruled in favor of Carlos Sánchez de la Peña in his "right to be forgotten request" to have Google remove links to three articles (from searches of his name) that describe Moreira's father's business dealings and Mexico's bailout of several bad loans. IFAL didn't find that the public interest served by retaining the links to the news articles and ordered Google to remove the links from searches of Sánchez de la Peña 's name. According to the Wall Street Journal, "The most prominent of the links is to a 2007 article in the local magazine Fortuna about a lawsuit against Mr. Sánchez’s de la Peña’s late father, Salvador Sánchez Alcántara, by shareholders in the bus company Estrella Blanca. Mr. Sánchez de la Peña is named in the story." Moreover, "IFAI commissioners argued that Mr. Sánchez de la Peña met the privacy-law requirement that allows for the removal of information when its “persistence causes injury” even if the information was lawfully published."

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