Readers: Websites Aren't Responsbile for Regulating Content

In a recent blog, ThinkerNetter Andrew Keen brought to light a trial in Italy where Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) execs are being charged for letting a video of a boy with Down Syndrome getting physically abused appear online. While the accused are faced with prospective jail time, we're faced with the question of whether technology companies, like Google, are responsible for the content that appears on their sites.

"Google can't have it both ways," writes Keen in his blog. "It can't make money on the content, but take no responsibility for this content when it flouts the law. For better or worse, Google is a media company that should, like all other media companies, have responsibility for the content posted on its site."

That's one way to look at it, but we received a bit of a different perspective when putting the question to our readers.

Answering a poll question, "Should tech companies, such as Google/Yahoo, be responsible/liable for user-generated content on their sites -- including content that's objectionable, illegal, or dangerous?" here's how nearly 300 readers responded:

Taking the majority, 52 percent of our readers believe "it's not [the company's] job to regulate content." In contrast, 37 percent believe it is -- and an additional 11 percent said just thinking about it gave them some slight brain pain. (Our apologies, by the way...)

When making the argument to hold a technology company -- whose sites are built primarily of user-generated content -- accountable for what appears there, a few technical issues come into play.

For starters, as some of our readers pointed out on the boards, the laws vary from country to country, distorting the rules a bit when deciding what to take down or term illegal.

Further, many insist it's up to the users of the site to flag offensive content and to take the heat for whatever they post. This sounds fair but isn't always possible when anonymity rights are upheld, giving Internet users the freedom to say and write whatever they want beneath a cloak of invisibility. But a Maryland court recently ruled in favor of Internet anonymity, saying Websites being charged for defamation don't have to give up user identity.

So who, then, are we to hold accountable for unsavory, offensive, or illegal online content? We can't always blame the users because they're invisible and, in some cases, protected by law. We can't blame the technology companies if it isn't their job to regulate their sites.

While some hail Internet anonymity and Freedom of Post as the driving forces behind the open Web, they may also be inhibiting its success and growth.

But for behemoths like Google, is it really fair to call "Not It" when coming under fire for questionable content, while happily raking in the associated ad revenues? Fifty-two percent of our readers believe so, which is why we won't see this debate disappear for some time.

? Nicole Ferraro, Site Editor, Internet Evolution