The “Right to be Forgotten” AKA the “right to erasure” law in European Union and various countries is complicated. You can read more about it using the link above. The issue arose from the desire of individuals to “determine the development of their life in an autonomous way, without being perpetually or periodically stigmatized as a consequence of a specific action performed in the past”.
It has been pointed out that the way this law is used in the EU and elsewhere could interfere in the United States with a Constitutional Right to Freedom of Speech & the Press. The Freedom of Speech and of the Press allows us to print and post things about people that they might want to be removed from the web/searches. If America enacted a RTBF law it would have to be approached very carefully.
Politicians would have a field day with the law. All their previous misdeeds could be harder to find. You would no longer know where that child molester lives. History could be more easily manipulated. Finding out the truth about anyone would be much harder. The list goes on and on.
On the flip side, why should things be held against someone forever? Doesn’t a criminal have rights restored after serving their sentence? What about all the lies told about politicians? Don’t they have a right to have the record set straight?
The question is: Where is the line drawn between your right to privacy and freedom of speech and the press? The answers are not clear or simple. You be the judge.
The video also covers how big tech markets to us and the use of information in relation to your online activity. We also briefly discuss the way the government tracks and stores information about citizens. In the end we have more questions than answers.
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