Private power, public interest: An examination of search engine accountability

Laidlaw, Emily B. (2008) Private power, public interest: An examination of search engine accountability. International Journal of Law and Information Technology, 17 (1). pp. 113-145. ISSN 1464-3693

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

As information becomes a critical commodity in modern society, the issue is raised whether the entities that manage access to information, that are tools for public discourse and democracy, should be accountable to the public. The Internet has transformed how we communicate, and search engines have emerged as managers of information, organizing and categorizing content in a coherent, accessible manner thereby shaping the Internet user's experience. This article examines whether search engines should have public interest obligations. In order to answer this question, this article first examines comparative public interest regulatory structures, and the growing importance of the Internet to public discourse. Then examined is how the algorithmic designs and manual manipulation of rankings by search engines affects the public interest without a sufficient accountability structure. Finally, the values necessary to a public interest framework are suggested.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Depositing User:	Emily Laidlaw
Date Deposited:	13 Apr 2011 11:23
Last Modified:	27 Oct 2023 00:37
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/29192
DOI:	10.1093/ijlit/ean018

Actions (login required)

View Item