Editorial

Forget the ‘right to be forgotten’ bill

Posted

Do people have the “right to be forgotten,” to wipe the memory of their existence from the “Internet of all things,” the great international data storehouse in this information age?

State Assemblyman David Weprin, a Queens Democrat, thinks so. He has proposed a bill that, if passed, would require anyone publishing on the internet to take down “inaccurate or irrelevant information” about a person within 30 days, or face a fine of $250 per day, plus attorney’s fees.

The European Union’s highest court ruled in 2014 that Google had to remove people’s personal information that they found “inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant and excessive.” So, Weprin’s measure would not be unprecedented.

It is, however, an absurd idea that would infringe on Americans’ right to a free press, set forth in the First Amendment of the Constitution. If passed, it would set a dangerous precedent in a free and open society.

There are mechanisms by which people can sue for libel when news organizations, or any internet publishers, have seriously mucked up their stories. And legitimate media understand that. That is why they are most often more than willing to correct inaccurate or poorly reported stories found on the web, just as they are willing to do so in their print editions. And it’s much easier to correct the record on the internet. It requires only a few taps on the computer keyboard, and voilá, it’s done.

If we are to maintain our right to free speech and a free press, Weprin’s bill must never see the light of day.