Google has rejected dozens of requests from convicted terrorists and their families to delete news reports on atrocities that killed hundreds of people.
Terrorists across Europe have asked the media giant to act under the EU's "right to be forgotten" scheme and requested that details of their crimes are permanently wiped from internet searches.
Under the policy, Google considers each request and decides whether its presence on the internet breaches a person’s human rights, or if it were in the public interest for it to remain.
In one case, a relative of one of the bombers in the 2005 bus and underground attacks on London on July 7 applied to have two news articles removed.
The relative was not believed to be implicated in the attack.
The attacks, in which four suicide bombers detonated rucksacks full of explosives on buses and the Tube in central London, killed 52 people and injured hundreds more.
It was the worst terrorist atrocity on British soil.
“We received a request from a relative of a perpetrator of the 2005 London terrorist attacks to delist two news articles from Google Search," the company said.
“The articles, published in the context of the 2017 Westminster terrorist attack, briefly mention the relative as having given an interview in 2006 about views on terrorism and personal experience as a relative of a terrorist.
“We did not delist the two URLs for public interest purposes.”
Ahmed Patel, the brother-in-law of ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan, has spoken out to encourage Muslims to do more to battle extremism and support the UK government’s counter-radicalisation programme.
It is not known if Mr Patel was the person in contact with Google.
In Spain, the former head of a terrorist group’s political arm requested that the details about their role be removed.
Google again refused on the grounds that it was in the public interest for the information to remain.
Since the scheme was launched almost six years ago, it has received almost 1 million requests to delete more than 3.5 million web pages.
It has approved the removal of almost half of these, or 46.2 per cent.
A fifth of all requests were for the removal of news articles across Europe and many of these involved criminals wanting reports of their crimes deleted.
There have been cases of murderers wanting the facts behind their crimes wiped, priests wanting sex crimes removed and politicians convicted of frauds wanting the internet history wiped.
Other cases included:
UK – A person who set up an alleged fraudulent crowdfunding page to raise funds for victims of the London Bridge 2017 terror attack asked for 33 news articles to be removed. It was refused.
Germany – A plane hijacker requested reports about his conviction for hijacking an East German to try to flee to West Germany in 1984 to be deleted. It was removed because of the age of the offence.
Netherlands – A member of a group asked for their listing on a government department's counter-terrorism webpage to be removed. It was refused.
France – The French Data Protection Agency applied on behalf of a terrorist to have the person's conviction details removed. The person had been sentenced to two years in prison for aiding and abetting a family member in a botched terrorist attack. Seven URLs were removed as Google determined that the person's sentence had been served.
Belgium – A former politician with the far-right Vlaams Blok asked for eight articles relating to their trial and convictions for murder and attempted murder to be removed. It was rejected.
Spain – A Member of the European Parliament asked for articles about his involvement in a bribery and corruption scandal to be removed. It was rejected.
Google has been asked to remove at least 40 terror-related articles.
About a quarter of all requests received from the UK, France and Spain related to news articles.
“We assess each request on a case-by-case basis," Google said. "In some cases, we may ask the individual for more information.
“After a request is submitted to us via our webform it undergoes a manual review.
"Once we reach a decision, the individual will receive an email notifying him or her of our decision and, if we do not delist the URL, a brief explanation.
“A few common material factors involved in decisions not to delist pages include the existence of alternative solutions, technical reasons, or duplicate URLs.
"We may also determine that the page contains information which is strongly in the public interest.
“Determining whether content is in the public interest is complex and may mean considering many diverse factors, including - but not limited to - whether the content relates to the requester’s professional life, a past crime, political office, position in public life, or whether the content is self-authored content, consists of government documents or is journalistic in nature.”
This month Sweden fined Google £6.8 million for breaches of the right to be forgotten scheme for failing to “adequately” remove search links.
It also ordered the company not to tell website operators their URLs had been delisted in case they created a new page for it.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Innocent Witness, June 26 at 7pm
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
AVOID SCAMMERS: TIPS FROM EMIRATES NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately
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Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
