  Should SECs be held accountable for directing users, even if unintentionally, to some Web sites whose content is either illegal or morally controversial, or both? We should note that American SECs, including Google, claim that they provide only a service, and thus are not “content providers.” These companies believe that it is not reasonable to hold them responsible/liable for the content on sites that they merely identify or provide links to in their lists of search returns. They also correctly point out that in the U.S., providers of online services – including major ISPs like Verizon and Comcast – are not held legally liable for the online content accessible through their services, provided they comply with official legal requests to remove content that explicitly violate U.S. laws. Analogously, SECs believe that if they comply with official legal requests to “de-index,” or remove links to, sites that willingly and intentionally violate U.S. laws – e.g., laws violating copyright, child pornography, and so forth – they too should not be held legally liable for any content that users happen to access via their services. However, many American-owned SECs operate internationally, where laws and regulatory schemes differ from those in the U.S. (as we saw in the case of Google in China).