The European Right to Be Forgotten

A thoughtful exploration of the powerful tensions between Europe’s recognition of a Right to be Forgotten and American conceptions of free speech and press, demonstrating how one culture’s protection of privacy may be another culture’s censorship. -- Rodney Smolla, Delaware Law School
This book explores a complicated question—how should our government balance freedom of information with an individual’s right to privacy? If the US were to adopt a right to be forgotten, would erased facts become fake news? Would real fake news become more difficult to discredit? While acknowledging the importance of an individual’s right to privacy, Dr. Byrum explores the history and principles underlying the First Amendment and argues persuasively that the fundamental freedoms and protection from government intervention found in the Bill of Rights remain strong enough to combat search engine manipulation and that the European Right to be Forgotten would damage these freedoms. She advocates for the free flow of information, arguing that the Right to be Forgotten will deprive the marketplace of ideas, creating Orwellian memory holes and threatening the collective cultural and historical memory of specific events, including protests and political actions. -- Neil E. Grayson, Nelson Mullins