Forget This!

This is a Medianote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 students in September 2015.

There is an amazingly unfortunate video of you going around the Internet. Should it be allowed to haunt you forever, or can search engines and social media sites be forced to take that video down. Large online companies like Google and Facebook are running into conflicts over the European idea of "The Right to be Forgotten." NPR reports.

Questions...

•In Germany, once a law-breaker has paid his or her debt to society, record of the criminal conviction is erased from the public record. What do you think of this concept?

•Should public figures (politicians, celebrities and other famous people) have the right to be forgotten, or should this only be for regular people?

•What other types of problems with content on their sites do multinational Internet companies run into?

•Should the right to be forgotten be extended to the U.S.?

•Are there any practical problems with "The Right to be Forgotten" on the Internet?