Thursday, October 18, 2007

Orkut in the dock in Brazil

Google found itself in a not so good position after it reportedly put ads on Orkut beside images of pictures of naked children and abused animals. The ads were suspended and Google's Brazilian Head of Operations is facing criminal contempt charges for refusing to turn Orkut users' data over to police. Orkut has been accused of becoming a portal for criminal acitivities ranging from child porn to racist speech [vide Prof T N De Oliveira's report on the matter]

Update: Reporters Without Borders has urged the Sao Paulo state prosecutor, Rodrigo Cesar Rebello Pinho, to safeguard freedom of speech on 13 November 2008, when an attempt at conciliation between the Brazilian judicial authorities and Google’s Brazilian subsidiary is due to take place.

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