I had been following Google’s Forget Me issue where a Spanish man won a lawsuit against Google to allow the deletion of debt problem records he had encountered in the past on the grounds, I imagine, that these were detrimental to his reputation.
On the home front, there are Congressmen eager to revive the infamous ‘right of reply’ bill after many had been implicated in Janet Napoles list as recipients or facilitators of PDAF cash supposedly meant for infrastructure and livelihood projects.
The situations are similar in the sense that the parties who perceive themselves as afflicted are attempting to repair the situation via legislation. The Spanish businessman via a lawsuit and the Congressmen via passing of a law. What they do not understand is that Google and the press, the parties they are trying to control, are not operating in the manner of, say, a registry, where facts are placed in order and from which people receive this information as if plain fact.
Rather, Google and the press are collators of information. The more of which and from more sources the better so as to help establish the information as fact. This mechanism of collecting, disseminating and in the press’s case, reporting, is the reason behind their success as information vehicles.
People who consume information are not automatons that once in receipt of information are thusly convinced of its accuracy forever. Instead, the more important the information the more sources and versions of these stories we want to hear.
So if for example one was investigating the Spanish businessman re his ability to conduct business, I would not necessarily base conclusions on a mere Google search. Rather I would meet him personally, review his assets and liabilities, or in other words conduct a more thorough investigation as befits the value of the business I wish to conduct with him.
The same is true and probably much more especially so with the Solons. As elected officials it is expected of them to have enemies spreading misinformation about them. As such if you wish to know more of them it is absolutely crucial your investigation not only be limited to the press or even Google. You will need to check credentials, businesses and property they own, people they have worked with and even family relations. Being public officials the public is even more privy to their information, with them expected to be in compliance all the way, having chosen to be in a profession where this should be the norm.
The remedy to repairing one’s reputation as far as search engines are concerned, interestingly enough, was brought to my attention while watching a show where a person from the NBI explained that one should ‘fight fire with fire’ so to speak. So if there are naked pictures of you floating around the internet as a result of a misguided night out, you should posthaste upload pictures of you fully clothed and doing far less questionable activities.
The more you upload these and in different contexts and methods, the more likely you will at some point eliminate the possibility of discovery of those ill advised photos.
I would think this method would apply the same way with the Spanish man. If he had suffered and successfully overcome debt in the past, then he should go ahead and make blog posts and upload photos and stories on facebook of his recovery. Being a story of a positive nature it will likely go around as such things do.
For the Congressmen on the other hand, all they really have to do is do their job in the manner and haste expected of them by their constituents. And that is review and pass laws, attend to the needs of the people they represent, or otherwise just perform as any God fearing, honesty driven, publicly elected official should.
Preferring legislation above those options is not only impossible given the nature of how search engines and the press receive and disseminate information. It is also tantamount to controlling information.
For in the end, preferring legislation is not wanting to correct information about them, it’s wanting to control what people think of them.
