German experts want search engines to be monitored

German experts at a Berlin seminar this week argued that search engines need to be more regulated. They want companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! to exercise editorial control over their search results and filter out sites with x-rated content or that glorify aggression.

“Mechanisms have to be developed to deal with illegal content and to protect children online,” Marcel Machill, a lecturer in journalism at Germany’s Leipzig and Dortmund universities, told the Search Enginge Workshop run by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation this week.

“Even if not targeted directly, browsing, surfing, or following suggestions from search engines may lead to material containing unwanted, troublesome, offensive, as well as surprising or amusing material. To be able to profit from this opportunity, while still allowing for the protection of children and for selective approaches to information gathering and communication, is one of the most important tasks in further developing the internet.”

However, Norbert Schneider, director of the North Rhine Westphalia state media institute, believes a voluntary obligation to filter sites amounts to nothing more than a “weak regulation without any sanctions”.