Milan: A court ruling has found three Google employees guilty of privacy violation and accused the search engine giant of profiting and hosting an online video showing an autistic teenager being bullied by his classmates.
In a court decision, Judge Oscar Magi said Google privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, retired chief financial officer George Reyes, and senior vice president and chief legal officer David Drummond have committed commercial exploitation and ordered them to spend six months in jail.
“This decision is a signal showing that Web masters will have criminal responsibility and they should follow more stringent controls on the uploaded data…they should also sanitize the contents of videos”, Magi said in the ruling.
However, sanitizing the contents of the Internet may be impossible since there are millions of web contents worldwide.
When asked about the court ruling, Google said it will file an appeal since Magi’s decision “attacks the very principle of freedom of expression on the Internet and can affect countless of benefits the medium offers especially in the social, technological, and political aspects.”
Few years ago, an advocacy group for people with Down Syndrome has filed a complaint against Google for showing a video of an autistic teenager in Turin who was physically assaulted by his classmates. Meanwhile, the perpetrators were sentenced by a juvenile court.
According to reports, the video was viewed more than 5,500 times on the Internet for two months before it was removed by Google.
Google said it was unaware of the offensive video but argued that it has immediately removed the clippings after being notified by authorities.
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