Automated Filter Removed Parliament Member's Article Warning About Censorship By Automated Filters

from the i'm-sorry-dave,-i'm-afraid-i-can't-allow-that dept

Tue, Aug 21st 2018 12:04pm — Mike Masnick

Last week, Tim Cushing had a post about yet another out of control automated DMCA notifier, sending a ton of bogus notices to Google (most of which Google removed from its search engine index, since the sender, "Topple Track" from Symphonic Distribution was a part of Google's "Trusted Copyright Program," giving those notices more weight). The post listed many of the perfectly legitimate content that got removed from Google's index because of that rogue automated filter, including an EFF page about a lawsuit, the official (authorized) pages of Beyonce and Bruno Mars, and a blog post about a lawsuit by Professor Eric Goldman.

But, seeing as we're getting towards September when the EU Parliament will again be voting on the big Copyright Directive proposal there, including Article 13, which will require mandatory filters or other automated tools for preventing copyright infringement, I thought it was important to do a separate post calling out one of the other pages taken down by Symphonic Distribution's out of control Topple Track. And that was that it got Google to de-index an article by Julia Reda, a member of the EU Parliament who has been leading the charge against the problematic provisions in the Copyright Directive proposal.

Specifically -- and it would be hard to make this up if we tried -- Topple Track's automated filter got Google to de-index this blog post by Reda, in which she details the problems in Article 13 and how it will create mandatory censorship machines, that would likely lead to massive internet censorship of perfectly legitimate content.

Let's repeat that so it can sink in. An automated filter helped take down an article by a Member of the EU Parliament, explaining how a (still being debated) proposal would create automated filtering systems that would take down all sorts of legitimate content.

This feels like the sort of thing that should end all debate about just how damaging Article 13 might be (though, of course, it won't). When you force more mandatory filters onto the internet, these kinds of problems will only increase. Tons and tons of legitimate and perfectly legal content will get blocked. Last month, we posted a useful demonstration of just how much legitimate content would get censored under such a plan, but we never imagined that a perfect example would present itself just weeks later showing just how bad an idea Article 13 is.

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Filed Under: article 13, automated takedowns, censorship machines, copyright, dmca, filters, julia reda, topple track
Companies: google, symphonic distribution

20 Comments

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ShadowNinja (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 12:13pm

Censoring articles on the Internet about censorship? What articles? I don't see any such articles anywhere on Google, so therefore they must not exist.

Guess it's just your word against 100% reliable politicians who we know would never ever lie to us, or try to censor the truth with poorly written legislation.
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ShadowNinja (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 12:14pm

Re:
Forgot to add a /s for those who will take me seriously.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2018 @ 12:43pm

The Computer Did It!

Not my fault!

blah blah
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ECA (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 12:54pm

Computer Mentality..
Something similar in the past.
Shelf prices,
IRS,
BANKS..

If the computer says it is so, then it is SO..
This is the price, there is no sale..
This is the IRS and our computer tells us, you are LATE..
You have no money in your account, you PAY the overcharge fee..

ANY idea that automated software is perfect...IS F'ing stupid..
Who here thinks Windows or their hardware is PERFECT?? you WILL replace them, over time for another version...ANd your windows gets changes ALMOST every week..
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N Dall-Debate, 21 Aug 2018 @ 1:15pm

"This feels like the sort of thing that should end all debate"
That's really your fantasy if not goal, isn't it? That or similar wish is written here often, as I've noted.

So, JUST END ALL DEBATE because of one errant computer program! Man, that's Ivy League thought. -- Following that line, Microsoft would have not just stopped all progress, but reverted us to The Steam Age.
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Stephen T. Stone (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 1:31pm

The full quote from the article, for context:

This feels like the sort of thing that should end all debate about just how damaging Article 13 might be (though, of course, it won't).

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Mike Masnick (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 1:35pm

Re:
What's amusing is that our friend above seems to think that he can remove context on a comment THAT HAS THE FULL CONTEXT RIGHT ABOVE IT, and somehow thinks it will convince someone. I find it quite amusing.
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Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 1:48pm

This just fell out of the irony tree and hit every branch on the way down.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2018 @ 2:07pm

Re:
WRT this being "hard to make up", I'm surprised to see that. It's exactly one of the ways I'd expect it to go wrong. After all, any article complaining about automated censorship is likely to mention one or more of the naughty phrases/topics.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2018 @ 2:52pm

bet this was done intentionally by the EU Commission! they will go to any possible lengths to get what they want into place and into law and wont stop to shut down any criticism, any lawful alternatives or opinions! they even had a lobbying group doing the same as over here and accusing bot nets of being used to put invalid names on a protest page! that's why there are organised street protests in the next few days. almost everywhere in the EU except the UK, that is. they haven't got a set of balls between them there! and the UK government is all up for removing anything and everything that gives the people any rights, ant freedom and any privacy!! shows how scared they are there about being disclosed as the lying, cheating bunch of cunts they are!!
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David, 21 Aug 2018 @ 4:04pm

Re:
I don't see the irony here.

Automated Filter Removed Parliament Member's Article Warning About Censorship By Automated Filters

That is exactly what I'd do as well if I were an automated filter.
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 6:04pm

Idiots meet petard.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2018 @ 6:28pm

Ouroboros
I’m just relieved the censorship machine didn’t take the entire universe with it. I suppose that happens when Topple Track automatically censors content advocating automatic censorship.
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Toom1275 (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 9:45pm

Re: Ouroboros
*Topple Track proceeds to take itself down for using its name and content*
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oliver (profile), 21 Aug 2018 @ 10:49pm

Catch22
How about that "automated filter" just removes itself?
That would be progess!!
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2018 @ 12:35am

It's not the automatic part of filtering of content that is the problem.

It's that there are no repercussions for filtering the wrong stuff. That is the problem.

If there was a (sufficiently high) fine for the owner of the filter for every piece of content that was wrongfully flagged for takedown, there would be no problem at all...
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2018 @ 3:02am

And thus we automate the punishment of poor automated content filtering.

Oh, wait.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2018 @ 7:29pm

Re:
1. Do you have proof that the EU Commission did this?

2. There will be protests over this in the UK so we do have balls.

3 This has nothing to do with the UK government and most UK MEPs voted against the law.

You just love ranting dont you?
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perlhaqr, 23 Aug 2018 @ 9:36am

Re:
Indeed. "Don't pull the trigger until you're sure of what you're aiming at."
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Aug 2018 @ 3:36pm

Self Defense?
Could this maybe just be the program practicing self defense?
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