In a fresh spate of troubles for the search engine giant, Jim Hood, the Attorney General of Mississippi is now investigating if Google can be held accountable for letting users find pirated media through their search engine and for the auto completion feature that includes suggestions for activities that are of a criminal nature.
In their defense, Google stated that they cannot be held responsible for the online behavior of their users. The company also said that their right to free speech is being infringed upon through this investigation. Attorneys arguing on behalf of the defendant stated that the Attorney General is indirectly trying to empower the state with the jurisdiction to censor the internet. Hence, they are asking for an injunction that would prevent the filing of criminal or civil liabilities against Google.
The strife between Hood and Google is about a year old when the company, as a corporate entity was subpoenaed. Lawyers for Google say that the Attorney General cannot touch the company because it has earned congressional protection under the 1996 Act of Communication Decency.
The judge is set to rule in the matter on February, 24. However, if the verdict goes against Google, this could open up a whole new can of worms for the company which is already facing several charges of corporate law and ethics violations across the world.
Source: http://www.pressherald.com/2015/02/14/mississippi-ag-does-google-abet-crime/