Many people are concerned with the volume of slanderous content about people on the internet…including websites that publish such material and then extort victims to pay to have it removed.
In 2021, Google announced plans to change its search algorithm to prevent predatory websites, which operated under domains like BadGirlReport.date and PredatorsAlert.us, from appearing in the list of results when someone searches for a person’s name.
In Google Seeks to Break Vicious Cycle of Online Slander, the article that broke this news, Kashmir Hill and Daisuke Wakabayashi, tech reporters for The New York Times, reported:
Google also recently created a new concept it calls “known victims.” When people report to the company that they have been attacked on sites that charge to remove posts, Google will automatically suppress similar content when their names are searched for. “Known victims” also includes people whose nude photos have been published online without their consent, allowing them to request suppression of explicit results for their names.
These are examples of personal information that Google will remove if you are unable to have a website remove it on request:
Non-consensual explicit or intimate personal images from Google
Involuntary fake pornography from Google
Content about you on sites with exploitative removal practices from Google
Select financial, medical, and national ID information from Google
“Doxxing” content – content exposing contact information with an intent to harm
Google may also remove personal information that creates significant risks of identity theft, financial fraud, or other specific harms.
If you believe your request meets one of the guidelines mentioned above, you can make a removal request at Google’s form, found here.