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Google and Microsoft To Block Child-Abuse Search Terms

mrspoonsi writes "Leading search engine companies Google and Microsoft have agreed measures to make it harder to find child abuse images online. As many as 100,000 search terms will now return no results that find illegal material, and will trigger warnings that child abuse imagery is illegal. The Google chairman said he hired a 200-strong team to work out a solution over the last three months. Google's previous set of measures, which displayed a warning to people attempting to search for illegal material and caused a 20 percent drop in illicit activity."

9 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. Friendly request to non-Brits by Joining+Yet+Again · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please search for and compile the list of 100,000 terms.

    Which will inevitably all:
    - Have double meanings;
    - Be likely to be used by victims of abuse who are looking for help;
    - Be useful for legitimate research;
    - Be searched for by people looking for news or discussion on censorship;
    - End up with a lot of political hot topics thrown in.

    Thanks!

    1. Re:Friendly request to non-Brits by Joining+Yet+Again · · Score: 5, Informative

      That's not the impression the BBC article gives me. Indeed, it says:

      Typing "child pornography" in to Google's search engine now brings up a set of search results that include warnings that child abuse imagery is illegal.

      The first three links are all related to reporting disturbing images or seeking help if you think you or someone you know has a problem with child porn.

      The first link is an advert that links to a Google statement about protecting children from sexual abuse. The next link directs you to the Internet Watch Foundation, where you can report criminal online content, and a link to Stop it Now advises users how they can get help and advice.

      The remaining search results are mainly news stories from around the world reporting on child pornography.

      So Google are now engaging in government-directed manipulation of search results covering the discussion of child sex abuse images.

  2. Re:Well, it's something. by Joining+Yet+Again · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's something to INCREASE abuse by:

    1) Redirecting resources away from finding abusers;

    2) Giving the impression that "something is being done already" so resources don't need to be reviewed;

    3) Misidentifying abuse as something which is caused by the availability of images of abuse, when in fact almost all child sex abuse occurs within families or thanks to trusted acquaintances for various complex reasons which require careful analysis rather than knee-jerk political reactions.

  3. Just the Start? by mrspoonsi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Fair enough, child abuse is universally against the law (unless there are a few countries without such laws on their statue), but by the same token murder is illegal the whole world over, and I do not see Google bringing up an "Illegal search" page if you were to type "how to murder someone", perhaps it will do one day...

    Yesterday I was not allowed to take a single photograph of my daughter who was in a dance competition, to quote "in case it ends up on the internet". This memory (dance competition) will be lost now, because it was not recorded. There was even an announcement, make sure all Phones and iPads are kept in your pocket / bag, something seems very wrong with this endless search for the boogeyman.

    1. Re:Just the Start? by Xest · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So join or put a question to the PTA demanding the school answer why on earth it's preventing parents from saving memorable moments of their children's upbringing.

      If no one questions it this shit will keep propagating, I'd wager you're not the only parent pissed off about this and given that the school wouldn't exist without the parents and their kids then it needs to be stamped out.

  4. Re:Well, it's something. by gweihir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually it does not do anything about child abuse. It just hides the problem. People that look at such images are a minor side-issue. The real issue is people that abuse children, and even there those that document their crimes in images or video seem to be a small minority.

    I think this is designed (like so many efforts by law enforcement) to give the appearance of doing something really valuable, while it is likely rather meaningless in reality and may even be counter-productive. If this effort went into preventing children from being harmed in the first place, it might actually accomplish something. Instead they go for an easy, but fake, win.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  5. Re:Well, it's something. by Pi1grim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Exactly. Unfortunately this is tactics of sweeping the dirt under the rug. Shutting your eyes and pretending it's not happening. I don't understand why noone in their right mind thinks that hiding criminal activity reports will stop crime, but are sure that if we remove all child abuse pictures from the internet, then the problem will solve itself.

  6. Crime is decreasing [Re:Well, it's something.] by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You ask ANY of the guys that are actually in the streets, or people that live in edge neighborhoods... crime is going up and going up rapidly.

    Perception of crime may be going up. Fear of crime may be going up. Actual crime is going down.

    --this is probably, however, simply a function of the aging of the population rather than the effects of policies. The largest component of crime is teenagers and early twenties.

    99% of what you hear from your local,state or federal government is 100% BS to simply calm you down.

    Unfortunately, when you dismiss all data that disagrees with what you have already decided to believe, you can never learn anything.

    http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/crimes_061112/
    http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0524/US-crime-rate-is-down-six-key-reasons
    http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/29/justice/us-violent-crime/
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-dimond/crime-reduction_b_2878003.html

    If crime rates are going down, then why is my local police getting military grade equipment and gear? Cripes for the last sports event here they had M16 machine guns in the open and wearing full military armor.

    The equipment used by police departments has no relationship to the amount of crime.

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  7. Re:Well, it's something. by realityimpaired · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If crime rates are going down, then why is my local police getting military grade equipment and gear?

    Because people like you seem to think there's a need. They need military gear because they need military gear. Tautology, yes, but no less the truth in this case. Crime rates have been going down across the board since the 70's: lower rates of violent crime, less non-violent crime, less white collar crime, everything. The only reason you may get the impression it's happening more frequently is because channels like CNN didn't exist in the 70's.