Google seeks to break the vicious cycle of online defamation

For many years the same vicious cycle has been spinning: Websites solicit lurid and unverified reports about alleged infidels, sexual predators, defaulters and scammers. People slander their enemies. Anonymous posts appear in the first Google results when searching for victims’ names. The websites then proceed to charge victims thousands of dollars to remove the posts.

This circle of smears has been lucrative for the websites and associated intermediaries, as well as devastating for the victims. However, Google is trying to break that loop.

The company plans to change its search algorithm to prevent those websites, which operate under domains like BadGirlReport.date and PredatorsAlert.us, from appearing in the results list when someone searches for a person’s name.

Google also recently created a new concept that it calls “known victims.” When people report to the company that they have been attacked on sites that charge to remove posts, Google will automatically remove any similar content that appears when their names are searched. “Known Victims” also includes people whose nude photos have been posted online without their consent, allowing them to request the removal of explicit results from their names.

The changes – some already made by Google and others planned for the next few months – are a response to several recent articles in The New York Times that documented how the libel industry preys on victims with the unwitting help…

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