Category Archives: Google

Regrets? I’ve had a few….

Posted on January 24, 2021 by John Carr

Last week (20th January) the UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee interviewed representatives of Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Google, Snap and Tik Tok. The Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee is Yvette Cooper, an intellectual heavyweight of the first water. … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Facebook, Google, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

Absurdities and atrocities

Posted on January 12, 2021 by John Carr

Voltaire famously said “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” History is littered with examples of this and last week in the USA we saw the same thing played out again. Lies and travelling trousers … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Google, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

A very bad day for children in Europe

Posted on December 21, 2020 by John Carr

If you live in an EU Member State and you have used Facebook Messenger or Instagram Direct today you probably saw this message. “Some features are not available. This is to respect new rules for messaging services in Europe. We’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Default settings, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | 1 Comment

Let’s not make TWO mistakes

Posted on September 27, 2020 by John Carr

Nobody had spotted it. The European Commission openly acknowledged an error had been made. If left uncorrected it would bring to an end measures which have been protecting kids since 2009. On 10th September the Commission published a proposal.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Default settings, E-commerce, Facebook, Google, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

President Trump gets it wrong

Posted on May 29, 2020 by John Carr

So it wasn’t an empty threat.  President Trump did it. He signed an Executive Order which, in essence, seeks to change the law on platform immunity, as conferred by s.230, Communications Decency Act 1996. It is doubtful the Executive Order … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Google, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

Failures of contingency planning worsened by delay

Posted on May 18, 2020 by John Carr

UK Children’s organizations have written a letter of protest to the Government. The media have covered in some detail certain headline failures of contingency planning in relation to Covid-19 and lockdown. Less well remarked has been the failure of contingency … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Consent, Default settings, E-commerce, Facebook, Google, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

Another advertising scandal

Posted on May 2, 2020 by John Carr

Apologies for the fact I missed this at the time it hit the regular news cycle but when I read  about it yesterday I felt I still had to write something. Regular readers will know my blogs are occasionally partly … Continue reading →

Posted in E-commerce, Facebook, Google, Pornography, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

Big numbers again and countries named

Posted on April 16, 2020 by John Carr

Under US Federal law every electronic service provider (esp) within the US jurisdiction is required to report all child sex abuse material (csam) found on their virtual properties.  They must report to NCMEC, the US hotline, in a form described here. … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Facebook, Google, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

After the war is over

Posted on April 13, 2020 by John Carr

It is impossible for anyone to say with any level of certainty what the post-pandemic world will look like. Some pundits believe everything will be completely different. Rather more seem to be saying nothing much will change or things could … Continue reading →

Posted in Default settings, Facebook, Google, ICANN, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

More progress in the fight against online child sex abuse

Posted on March 13, 2020 by John Carr

Last week representatives from the Governments of the “Five Eyes” nations, (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA) gathered in Washington DC. They endorsed a set of eleven voluntary principles to combat a range of online threats to … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Child abuse images, Facebook, Google, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment