Google and Twitter should be forced to censor illegal search results

Google should be forced to stop people flouting privacyinjunctions online by censoring its search results, an influential report said today.

So far the search engine has refused requests to filter out results that breach court orders like the one obtained by footballer Ryan Giggs.

But a cross-party committee of MPs and peers blasted the internet giant for its 'totally unconvincing' objection to weeding out illegal information.

It follows increasing concern about a series of high-profile cases last year where High Court privacy injunctions were repeatedly breached online.

In the Giggs case, the Manchester United and Wales star took out an injunction in April to prevent reporting of allegations that he had an extra-marital affair with model Imogen Thomas.

But details and speculation about that injunction were spread so widely on social networking site Twitter that eventually Lib Dem MP John Hemming 'outed' him in the House of Commons.

 

Mr Hemmings used parliamentary privilege to name the player, saying 75,000 people had already identified him on Twitter.

In December, the footballer settled his action against Ms Thomas, 28, when he admitted his allegations that the former Big Brother contestant blackmailed him were untrue.
In May last year, a committee was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron to examine 
privacy and free speech after the controversy.

In its report out today, the committee said sites like Google, Facebook and Twitter present numerous challenges to the rule of law in the UK.
It added: 'Google and other search engines should take steps to ensure that their websites are not used as vehicles to breach the law and should actively develop and use such technology.

'We recommend that if legislation is necessary to require them to do so it should be introduced.'

MPs and peers argued injunctions should routinely apply to websites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as newspapers.

Google had claimed that such a policy could threaten the unfettered flow of information online.