Three Google executives convicted for privacy violations

In this photo, a Google logo is displayed at the National Retail Federation convention in New York. File picture: AP.

Three current and former Google executives have been convicted of privacy violations in allowing a video of an autistic boy being abused to be posted online.

Judge Oscar Magi on Wednesday absolved the three of defamation and acquitted a fourth defendant altogether. The three received a suspended six—month sentence for the conviction on violating the youth’s privacy.

The trial had been closely watched since it could help define whether the Internet in Italy is an open, self—regulating platform or if content must be better monitored for abusive material.

Google has said it considered the trial a threat to freedom on the Internet because it could force providers to attempt an impossible task – pre-screening thousands of hours daily of YouTube footage.