Latest Target In War On Drugs: Google Autocomplete

Posted by timothy on Thursday June 20, 2013 @04:13AM from the wrong-folks-to-micromanage dept.

netbuzz writes "The National Association of Attorneys General met in Boston this week and one panel focused on the 'safe harbor' provision of 1996 Communications Decency Act. Within that broader discussion, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood cited the autocomplete feature in Google search as evidence the company has more control over content than it contends. 'We know they manipulate the autocomplete feature,' Hood said, with his point being that there should be more such manipulation, not less. His primary example: a search on 'prescription drugs online' presents an autocomplete suggestion of 'prescription drugs online without a prescription.'"

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but...that's...not how it works... by dAzED1 · 2013-06-20 04:24 · Score: 4, Informative

If a lot of people that started a search with "prescription drugs online" were searching for "prescription drugs online unicorns riding gorillas wearing purple napkin trampoline" then that is what autocomplete would suggest. Bloody hell, it's not like someone at Google is manually creating "suggestions" for people...
Re:He's a moron by interkin3tic · 2013-06-20 04:34 · Score: 4, Informative

At least it sounds like he's focusing on drug abuse that traditionally gets ignored.

"Pot and crack? Yes, lock all of them up, those criminal scum.

Oxycodone and hydrocodone? Hey man, sitting on your fat ass in a chair and blabbing about how liberals are destroying society all day is tough. Rush NEEDS those pain pills. That shouldn't be jail time!"