Tick Tock, Tick Tock: Brazil Sets Deadline for Google in Orkut Flap
|
Written By Kate Zimmermann | September 1, 2006 | Share This
|
|
Back in May, we told you that Brazilian authorities were threatening Google Brazil with legal action over Orkut, the engine’s social networking site. Investigators wanted Google to turn over user data related to a number of crimes and suspected criminals. Although Big G attempted to comply, Brazil’s own G-men weren’t satisfied, and now a judicial order requires Google’s total cooperation within 15 days - or else face 23,000 dollars in daily fines, according to AFP.
Animosity is nothing new between the Brazilian government and Orkut, which is fairly popular in Brazil - maybe just a little too popular with a certain element. Dating back to last summer, Orkut has been labeled a haven for a laundry list of unseemly activities, including: drug trafficking, child pornograhy, child abuse, and the promotion of violence, racism and discrimination.
It seems that Google’s reluctance to help identify criminal suspects is what has officials fuming. Big G has previously claimed that Brazil had no claim over such info, as it was stored on US servers and therefore outside the country’s jurisdiction. In addition to the daily fines - which we suspect Google could eat with little problem - Brazil’s interior minister wants to shut down Orkut entirely and also exact a toll of 61 million bucks, to make amends for the “collective moral damage” allegedly dealt by Orkut.
If Google is really and truly holding out on Brazil’s law enforcement agencies, it would probably be a good idea to throw in the towel. But in general, we can sympathize with Google here. They’re being tarred for running a site that promotes and condones illegal activity, which it does not. It runs a social networking site that allows users a measure of freedom to promote themselves and communicate with others, with some unfortunate consequences. We’re not saying we welcome kiddie porn, violence and discrimination - quite the opposite. But saying that Orkut is morally responsible for crimes carried out by its users is like saying MySpace is responsible for atrocious spelling, un-viewable layouts and photos of teenagers doing dumb things to themselves (well, maybe they’re on the hook for the layouts).
Topics: Google, Social Media |