Is Facebook Really Shut Down on Coming 15th

Facebook dismissed shutting down rumours

Facebook has dismissed rumors that the social networking site is shutting down, after millions of its users got panicked. "We didn't get the memo about shutting down, so we'll keep working away. We aren't going anywhere; we're just getting started." The Internet rumour was sparked by a report from a website, Weekly World News.

According to their story, the social media giant would shut down in March because Mark Zuckerberg was getting too stressed out. Facebook has gotten out of control and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life," a newspaper quoted Zuckerberg as allegedly saying at a press conference in California. The questionable story sent Facebook users into a panic. The phrase "Is Facebook shutting down" was the 14th most searched for on Google on Saturday and the 10th most as of Sunday morning. On Facebook itself, groups like "Against shutting down Facebook on 15th of March" popped up with the slogan "No Facebook, No Party".

On Twitter, users fretted about what would happen to their pictures. Others started making alternate plans, saying they would move their information to MySpace, Twitter or a new service, like the one Google is rumored to be working on.

Google breaches Spain's privacy law

Google will challenge the Spanish authority which has asked the internet search engine giant to remove links of the country's newspapers and official gazettes, accusing it of breaching Spain's data privacy law. Spain's data protection authority has asked Google to remove links to articles in newspapers, including El Pais, and official gazettes, a leading newspaper reported. The technology giant has been ordered to remove almost 100 online articles from its search listings, which Google warns would have a 'profound, chilling effect' on freedom of expression.

Google says it is an intermediary and cannot be held responsible for content on the internet. The company will challenge the orders in a Madrid court Wednesday; an injunction against search engines is the only way to block access to sensitive material published by these sites, the Spanish authority argues, as newspapers in the country can legally refuse to comply with more informal requests. However, Google says it acts only as an intermediary, and therefore it cannot be held responsible for all content on the internet. Peter Barron, Google's director of external relations for Europe, told the newspaper 'We are disappointed by the actions of the Spanish privacy regulator. Spanish and European law rightly hold the publisher of the material responsible for its content.

'Requiring intermediaries like search engines to censor material published by others would have a profound, chilling effect on free expression without protecting people's privacy.' Cases covering five disputed articles will reach the Madrid magistrates court. Google will be ordered to remove the articles from its search results if its court challenge is unsuccessful. However, the articles would still be available on the newspaper websites. The demands follow a burgeoning public debate in Spain about 'the right to be forgotten' - or the right for people to delete their internet 'data trails'. Complaints from the public about their representation online have jumped 75 percent year on year, the country's privacy regulator said in June last year. Spain's Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos - the national data protection agency - declined to comment.