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Google Privacy Counsel Facing Criminal Charges Over Google Video
The proceedings against four Google executives will continue in the Criminal Court of Milan next week. The executives face charges of defamation and failure to exercise control over personal data. The charges stem from a two-year investigation by Italian authorities into footage uploaded onto Google Video that showed a disabled teen being disparaged by peers.
Under EU legislation, incorporated into Italian law in 2003, Internet service providers are not responsible for monitoring third-party content on their sites. However, they are required to remove content considered offensive if they receive a complaint.
Google received two separate requests for the removal of the video and did so within 24 hours of receiving the requests. Nonetheless, the Milan public prosecutor has decided that Google executives, by allowing the video onto its site, breached the Italian penal code. This is due to the fact that the public prosecutor deems Google to be an Internet content provider. Unlike Internet service providers, Internet content providers are responsible for third-party content posted to their sites.
For additional information, visit:
https://www.privacyassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1745&Itemid=228