• by Derek Gordon , March 1, 2010

Google's having a tough time in Europe.    

Last week, an Italian judge found three of the company's local executives guilty in a privacy violation case because they allowed a teenage user of YouTube to post a video in which an autistic boy was bullied by other youngsters.  It was watched more than 5,500 times over two months before a complaint was filed and Google removed it

Separately, Google received a letter last month from the Article 29 Data Protection Party, a unit of the European Union, asking it to make changes to Google's Street View photo-mapping service. The EU warned the company that it is likely breaking EU privacy laws.

Such are the challenges of indexing the world's information and unshackling individual expression.

Both issues highlight the differences between the United States, where Google was born, and much of the rest of the world.  We Americans value freedom of speech above other freedoms, which is why it's enshrined in the First Amendment of our Constitution.  In Europe, individual privacy and protection from state or other intrusion is paramount.

While platforms like YouTube, WordPress and Flickr have made it possible for any one of us to become our own mini media empire, how we choose to use that power is increasingly difficult to regulate.  Americans argue that social media is, ultimately, self-correcting.  After all, it was a user who alerted Google to the offending video, leading to its removal.  (Google even assisted authorities in identifying the video poster, who was apprehended and punished.)

But Italians argued that the dignity of the autistic young man shouldn't have been further degraded by the posting of the video capturing the original offense.  Google, they say, should review every video submitted for posting to ensure individual privacy rights (and other laws) are not infringed.  Google, citing the overwhelming volume of material submitted, says this would effectively stifle free expression.  Unmoved, the Italian court ruled that free speech should be hindered in service to the preservation of individual privacy and dignity.

Similarly, the EU argues that access to extremely accurate street maps -- information that is of high utility for all its citizens -- should be limited in favor of individual privacy if there's a chance a street-level photo should happen to capture an interior image of an individual's home or business.

Whether Google ultimately reshapes European values or, conversely, is reshaped by values other than those of its birthplace remains to be seen.

Still, I hope it's the former and not the latter outcome.  While respect for individual privacy and dignity are extraordinarily important values -- ones that should be fought for and protected -- the right to freedom of expression is at least as important.  Ordinary people have only recently secured access to the means of mass communications formerly in the exclusive preserve of a relatively few powerful individuals, families or governments around the world.  Protecting access to this newfound individual power should be a top consideration.

This does mean, however, that each of us must be committed to an individual responsibility for policing against abuses of this newfound power.  We must all stand up for those vulnerable to bullying and exploitation.  And we mustn't ever succumb to the temptation to be like those more than 5,500 who viewed a deeply troubling video before only one said: "not okay."

Our privacy is eroding.  There's no point in denying it.  Government cameras on every street capture much of our movement.  Our own social networking activities document all the small and large events of our everyday lives.  And people all around us can capture our every waking -- and even sleeping -- moments via smart phone videos and cameras.

And, of course, Google is indexing it all, for anyone to search, find and view.  This means Google has a lot of power and responsibility.

It also means the same for each of us.  Better we individually exercise those powers while embracing our responsibilities, and keep government regulation to a minimum.