Legal:Notices received from search engines

From Wikimedia Foundation Governance Wiki

For context, see these two blog posts:

"Wikipedia pages censored in European search results" (by WMF General Counsel Geoff Brigham and Legal Counsel Michelle Paulson, August 6, 2014)
"European court decision punches holes in free knowledge" (by WMF Executive Director Lila Tretikov, August 6, 2014)

Notices received from search engines

Posted below are notices received by the Wikimedia Foundation when search engines intend to indefinitely remove links to Wikimedia projects from their results.

We do not know who requested each removal. People should not assume that a subject of an article made the request, since others may have the opportunity to make such a demand for removal.

The community is, as always, free to exercise its editorial discretion and address the referred content as appropriate under community policies and practices.

Search engines do not inform delisted service providers (like us) what terms we have been delisted for, or the reason for the delisting, so we cannot answer questions about whether specific community changes might affect the delisting.

We are not aware of other search engines’ processes or the number of requests they are receiving and granting. Search engines may not provide proper notices, so we appreciate the companies who share our commitment to free speech and transparency. Compelled censorship is unacceptable, but compelled censorship without notice is unforgivable.

en.wikipedia

it.wikipedia

nl.wikipedia

fr.wikipedia

es.wikipedia

Wikimedia Commons