All of us have started enjoyed a greater freedom of speech with the advent of the internet. Not all countries are that liberal in allowing freedom of speech for their own reasons. So in order to bring in an element of moderation in freedom of expression and protection of online privacy all the three major search engines are in the process of rolling out a common policy and code of conduct along these lines. This initiative will be moderated by one of the latest organizations, namely Global Network Initiative.
This is the first time that we see Google, Yahoo and Microsoft joining hands for some common initiative. This initiative seeks to have a smooth relationship with countries that have limited or restricted freedom of online speech. However, the major search engines are not the only participants in this common initiative, there are others including, some human rights campaigners and socially conscious investors.
All the three major search engines, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft not only own search engines, they also host free blogs which serves as major channel for free online speech. They also have other mediums including, online forums, web mail, chat etc., and as such, these search engines seem to be holding a very powerful position in the society. They have access to so much of information and sensitive data that can be easily put to abuse. However, these major search engines have already met with criticisms on abusing their advantageous position and not using any form of discretion in publishing the data posted by the users in countries that have limited freedom of speech. At the same time they are also accused of giving details about those who criticize the government and its policies.
As per the latest reports the new policy will be published by the three companies along with the other pertinent details in a meet with the news media on Tuesday. As of now the Globalnetworkinitiative.org which is owned by the Center for Democracy and Technology is not yet launched and reads ‘Coming Soon”.
We are left to speculate on what to expect of these new policies by the major search engines and how effective these policies are going to be. The latest reports say that Microsoft will still comply with the local rules and regulations on censorship in both search results and the blogs. If you can remember Skype was already been criticized for restricting sensitive words in the instant messaging chats.
Google has been compliant so far is restricting the search results as and when governments have instructed Google to do so. Google even recommended the introduction of shareholder proposal that will resist the censorship efforts and inform users when such stipulations are laid by the government. However, this proposal was not accepted.
We need to wait for the new online privacy codes from the search engine giants.