Google and Microsoft joining forces to stop child porn

Search engine giant Google and US-based software giant Microsoft announced that they are joining forces in order to stop online searches for child porn. The two corporations on November 18, 2013 revealed measures which will block searches for child sex abuse images.

Google and Microsoft said that as many as 100,000 terms used in searches will fail to generate results and will display warnings that child abuse images are against the law. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman at Google said that the company has adjusted Google Search in order to remove results for more than 100,000 search terms which might be connected to the sexual abuse of children.

If users attempt to type in terms to find content on child sex abuse, then they will not be able to find any related content. Initially, restrictions will be made for the English-speaking countries, but then it will be expanded to the rest of the world and 158 other languages in six months. Schmidt said, “We will soon roll out these changes in more than 150 languages, so the impact will be truly global”.

Such changes will also be introduced in Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister David Cameron has appreciated the move and has called it significant.

Photo Credits: Channel News Asia