Search results

Search engines exist to help sort through all the information available on the Internet, but have thus fair failed to shoulder any responsibility for the content which appears on the pages they present in their indexes. Search engines lack any transparency to clarify how results were found, and how they are connected to the search terms. Thus, problems arise in connection with the protection of minors – namely, that minors have access, intentional or unwitting, to content which may be harmful to them. The findings of this study point to the need for a better framework for the protection of children. This framework should include codes of conduct for search engines, more accurate labeling of Web site data, and the outlawing of search engine manipulation. This study is intended as a first step in making the public aware of the problem of protecting children on the Internet.

Self‐regulation is widely considered to be a necessary complement – sometimes substitute – for traditional media‐supervision legislation and practice, especially so when the regulatory object is the Internet, where national legislation meets global networks and content. An example of an internationally structured self‐regulation initiative is provided by the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA). Its filter for blocking Internet content must be seen within the context of a more extensive bundle of measures based on the principle of self‐regulation. By choosing ICRA as a focal point, the authors set out to illustrate the new, user‐centered paradigm that could become the rule rather than exception for all kinds of media.