Google accused of scrubbing bloody Berlusconi pics

Move over, Facebook. Now Google is caught in the middle of Italy's epic row over Sunday's violent assault on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Bloggers, netizens, and at least one news organization are claiming that the web giant has removed images of a bloodied Berlusconi from the Italian incarnation of Google Image search. On Wednesday afternoon, a blog post from Google Italia said it had not removed the pics, pointing out that it takes time for newer content to appear on Image Search, but many continue to insist that the photos appeared on the site earlier in the week. "Yesterday, it was possible to find [the pics]. On Google Images. Not today," writes one English-language blogger, echoing the claims of many others. "The question is why?" Google did not respond to our request for comment. But we find it hard to believe the images have been removed. The English-language Google Image search is not a place to find newsy pics that have only recently hit the web, and it would seem that Google Immagini works much the same way.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/16/google_and_berlusconi/