The nine-year-old boy who sneaked onto a plane this week and travelled thousands of miles.
"How to hang a door."
"How to change a wiper blade."
"How to make pancakes."
"How to lose weight."
These are all useful searches which people like yours truly have secretly keyed into our computers, with Google providing step-by-step instructions to accomplish said task (with questionable results in the case of the door, it must be said).
But how about “How to get onto a plane unnoticed”?
Given a long, storied and often tragic history of hijacking and terrorism, should Google allow the question to be asked, much less answer it?
Google and other similarly placed organisations would argue freedom of speech, and that placing any curbs would start us on the slippery slope to fascism.
And being in the media industry, I should agree with them.
But I’m going to argue against my own interests and say that I cannot.
Surely no freedom is absolute? Nor should it be if it allows a Brazilian 9-year-old to sneak aboard a plane and fly 2 700km away from home (see Insider for the story).
People have already learnt how to make bombs by searching online.
What’s next? How to kill your parents and get away with it?
Surely common sense should prevail at some point?
Fortunately the story concerned had a happy ending, but who would have been responsible had the child died on his adventure?
Google is an indispensable tool in many of our lives, but cannot be allowed to get away with patently irresponsible behaviour in the name of clicks.
The Independent on Saturday
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