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Google Maps To Block Users From 'Virtual Visits' of Australian Uluru (cnn.com) 224

misnohmer writes: In 2019, the Australian site of Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, has been closed to tourists "after the Anangu people said it was being trashed by visitors eroding its surface, dropping rubbish and polluting nearby waterholes," according to CNN. Parks Australia has now has asked Google to remove all imagery of the site uploaded by the community, as per the wishes of the Uluru's owners -- the Anangu Aboriginal people. Google agreed. "Google is "supportive of this request and is in the process of removing the content," Parks Australia said in a statement. "Parks Australia alerted Google Australia to the user-generated images from the Uluru summit that have been posted on their mapping platform and requested that the content be removed in accordance with the wishes of Anangu, Uluru's traditional owners, and the national park's Film and Photography Guidelines," the statement added.
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Google Maps To Block Users From 'Virtual Visits' of Australian Uluru

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  • HELP US! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @06:03AM (#60545124)

    They are virtually offending our religion!

    It's one thing to request people to not climb on a sacred site to protect it from damage, it's quite another to request the removals of photographs of it.

    • Re:HELP US! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by dwywit ( 1109409 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @06:25AM (#60545142)

      I don't understand why - tourists will continue to visit (not climb) and photograph Uluru and surroundings.

      I do understand that photos of rubbish, vomit, etc would tend to detract, but still.

      What next, removal/blurring of satellite images?

      • Re:HELP US! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @06:46AM (#60545158)

        I don't understand why - tourists will continue to visit (not climb) and photograph Uluru and surroundings.

        I do understand that photos of rubbish, vomit, etc would tend to detract, but still.

        Couldn't agree more. Doesn't really make sense. And if anything, leave clean good images online, especially if you're looking to ban or even curtail visitors. Would be nice if the rest of the (virtual) world could at least admire the beauty and history from afar.

        What next...[crazy idea that should never come to fruition]...?

        I think we should really stop saying this, since the Four Horsemen of the modern era (Greed, Stupidity, Ignorance, and Corruption) seem to always respond with an arrogant hold my beer attitude, to ensure the answer to your question, is yes.

        Every damn time.

        • Couldn't agree more. Doesn't really make sense. And if anything, leave clean good images online, especially if you're looking to ban or even curtail visitors. Would be nice if the rest of the (virtual) world could at least admire the beauty and history from afar.

          That'd be the part where they're only removing the photos on Google maps, and only the ones that were uploaded by tourists.

          • This is really stupid. The rock is a unique geological formation, and shouldnâ(TM)t be censored. Imagine if the State of Arizona government demanded that all Grand Canyon images be removed from the platform. This is utter bullshit. Someone should host a site supporting a virtual visit with 360 surrounds.
      • I do understand that photos of rubbish, vomit, etc would tend to detract, but still.

        I think the whole point was to detract so this isn't an issue is it.

      • by knarf ( 34928 )

        > I don't understand why - tourists will continue to visit (not climb) and photograph Uluru and surroundings.

        Woke posturing, collecting points for the afterlife. That is why.

    • Re:HELP US! (Score:5, Informative)

      by CaffeinatedBacon ( 5363221 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @06:41AM (#60545154)
      The summary is quite useless. It's only images from the summit that are being removed, not any random picture of Uluru.
      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by iserlohn ( 49556 )

        People are quick to judge before knowing the full picture. Just look at all the comments here. That's the trade-off of the Internet model, by the time a false or poorly written article is rebuked, it's already spread far and wide and people have formed an opinion based on it.

        • Re:HELP US! (Score:5, Informative)

          by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @07:03AM (#60545182)

          People are quick to judge before knowing the full picture

          Kind of like you thinking I didn't know what the exact full picture is before posting? I am well aware that they are only removing the photos on the top of Ularu. Now please address why it changes my point that doing so is incredibly fucking stupid and achieves nothing.

          Also no nothing is rebuked. Parks Australia's official position is public: https://parksaustralia.gov.au/... [parksaustralia.gov.au] They are siding with religion over documentation, and it's fucking absurd.

          • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

            by iserlohn ( 49556 )

            Yes, it does change the point, because showing pictures from the summit creates demand for people to IG from there.

            Now why don't you do yourself a favour and stop digging a even bigger hole for yourself, genius. Cause everyone else is 'fucking stupid' aren't they?

            • Re:HELP US! (Score:5, Interesting)

              by dwywit ( 1109409 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @08:13AM (#60545300)

              Your point isn't relevant here - No-one is allowed to climb Uluru any more, so "IG" from there isn't a thing. Removing existing pictures of the summit from google doesn't make sense.

              I absolutely respect the rights of the owners to do what they see fit - but those photos are available on the internet, they're not going to erase them from public availability. I think someone should explain the Streisand Effect to them.

            • Re:HELP US! (Score:5, Informative)

              by Koen Lefever ( 2543028 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @08:38AM (#60545356)

              showing pictures from the summit creates demand for people to IG(*) from there.

              That does not seem to be the reason for the request to remove the photo's. From the Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org]:

              The Aangu also request that visitors do not photograph certain sections of Uluru, for reasons related to traditional Tjukurpa (Dreaming) beliefs. These areas are the sites of gender-linked rituals or ceremonies and are forbidden ground for Aangu of the opposite sex to those participating in the rituals in question. The photographic restriction is intended to prevent Aangu from inadvertently violating this taboo by encountering photographs of the forbidden sites in the outside world.

              (*) I had to search what "IG" could mean, I guess it is InstaGram?

              • So the photos are being removed to prevent adherents of a specific religious group seeing something which is forbidden to their gender?

                That just makes me want to put the pictures on a giant billboard.

              • by Reziac ( 43301 ) *

                How would they "inadvertently" encounter these forbidden images without actively searching for them??

          • religion

            it's fucking absurd.

            Yes, go on?

      • I know what is being removed, my point remains the same. It's stupid.

        • Re: HELP US! (Score:2, Interesting)

          by orlanz ( 882574 )

          So you have your beliefs and they have their own. Can we all agree that all are stupid so we can move on to more important news?

          Like how a small number of people trashed this place and disrespected the locals just for their personal glorification and we as a society paid the price by losing access to it? Isn't that the real story, only diminished by the sad reality it happens too often?

      • Are those the same pictures that were intentionally collected three years ago? [abc.net.au]
    • It may be a bit more complicated than that. The locals have objected to climbing the place for a long time, and perhaps the place's sacred nature means it should also remain private, as in unseen. Then again, it is a bit strange to bring up that objection now, and not, say, 35 years ago when they started to get vocal about people climbing the rock.

      But whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter, Google's decision was inevitable. I mean, pity the poor exec who will have to explain to woke Google emplo
      • by dwywit ( 1109409 )

        They were only given legal jurisdiction recently. They've been upset about it for a while but it's only recently - in the last couple of years - they've had the legal clout to say "no more". And fair enough.

        But trying to remove existing pictures smacks of political manouevering, and some of our first nations folk are very good at that.

        • Re:HELP US! (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Immerman ( 2627577 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @09:50AM (#60545484)

          >smacks of political manouevering, and some of our first nations folk are very good at that.

          And that's a problem for you? Given the initial and ongoing political maneuvering that was used to steal their land and subject them to some truly horrifying abuses, they *need* to get good at it - the war against them is ongoing, and political maneuvering is very often the only remotely effective weapon in their arsenal.

        • by hey! ( 33014 )

          Saying it's political maneuvering doesn't *explain* anything. Everything you accomplish *as a group* that does not involve pointing a gun at someone is political maneuvering.

          It's more useful to compare and contrast the nature of unfamiliar group's concerns with ones more familiar to us. We have our own sacred spaces. A few years ago a woman staged a photo [dailymail.co.uk] at Arlington National Cemetery where she she gives the middle finger and yells in front of the sign asking people to be silent and respectful.

          Everyone

    • This will only cause many people to fly over it (or into it) with drones...
    • Re:HELP US! (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anubis IV ( 1279820 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @08:44AM (#60545364)

      We’re not talking about taking pictures while on public property. We’re talking about people illegally going to a private location and then posting pictures from there. Fundamentally, it’s the same as you asking Google to remove photos of the interior of your home taken by vandals who broke in and wrecked the place. They had no right to be there in the first place, they certainly have no right to share images of your private quarters, and you certainly don’t want anything they’ve posted to encourage others to try the same.

      • No. We're talking about photos made by people who climbed the mountain LEGALLY before the ban was put into place. Fundamentally, it's the same as me selling my house, and the new owner demanding I take down all of the photos I took in the house before I sold it.

        • Fundamentally, it's the same as me selling my house, and the new owner demanding I take down all of the photos I took in the house before I sold it.

          Yes. Assuming the new owners also owned the house for thousands of years prior, and you took it from them against their will.
          In that case it's exactly the same.

          I don't agree with sacred site mystical fairy dust reasons you aren't allowed to take pictures. In fact I think it's completely absurd.
          But the situation isn't as simplistic as you make it out to be.

        • No. We're talking about photos made by people who climbed the mountain LEGALLY before the ban was put into place.

          When do you think that was? Hint: it wasn’t 2019 when the climb was closed.

          In actuality, the ban has been in place since the ‘90s. There have been signs posted all around the base of the climb since that time telling people not to climb, and the Anangu people had been asking visitors not to climb since ownership was handed back to them in 1985. The ethical considerations have been unchanged for the last three and a half decades, and the legal ones have been unchanged for the last two and a half.

          • When do you think that was? Hint: it wasn’t 2019 when the climb was closed.

            False. It was 2019 when the climb was closed. In the 90s Parks Australia enforced no bans beyond asking people to kindly obey the desires of people who see the site as sacred and not climb it.

            There is a big difference between asking for an action and legally enforcing an action, the latter of which was done less than 1 year ago. Prior to November people could climb whatever the fuck they wanted on that mountain and precisely no one could do anything about it. i.e. It wasn't "banned".

  • What if the mountain *becomes* Muhammad? Now we know!
  • It's just a rock (Score:5, Insightful)

    by xack ( 5304745 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @07:00AM (#60545180)
    It appeared millions of years before humans migrated there and when humans made up religion. I say a non censored website puts the images put back up.
  • So, if we pretend our personal information is some sort of sacred thing for our people, we can leverage this to get the GAFA to actually erase it???? This is somehow like a dream come true.
  • Google not wanting to look like the big bad wolf, picking a fight with the aboriginals? Is the Streisand Effect still a thing? Kinda bummed about the removal of the trail from street view - that would have been neat to see. Huck Finn Effect is a thing too.
  • I'm glad I looked at it while I could. It looks like quite a beautiful, amazing place. I sympathize against all the litterbugs and folks who treat it disrespectfully, and it's a shame the photos will be removed. I'm certain, though, that there will be some blogger out there with his or her own photos, and probably, images.google.com.

  • by Cytotoxic ( 245301 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @08:26AM (#60545322)

    It is just bizarre visiting Slashdot these days. This used to be the home of freedom for information, particularly on the internet. We bought T-Shirts with the RSA encryption algorithm on it to protest government censorship efforts. Google came along and was founded with the motto "don't be evil".

    And now a preponderance of comments at Slash-freaking-dot are in *favor* of Google removing images? Of anything?

    What in the ever-loving?

    • These days, I spend more time on SoylentNews. Not as technical, but as I have learned from hard experience, we can't focus solely on technology and science, can't expect the technical merits, facts, and rationality to carry the day.

      Perhaps it is that kind of Asperger attitude that opened the door for the trolls taking over the government. Anti-intellectualism has been rampant. We were not prepared for it. I understand it better now, maybe well enough to deal with it and shut down the bull. Still don'

  • by OneHundredAndTen ( 1523865 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @09:00AM (#60545404)
    What does it remain the case that one is allowed to challenge the law with the excuse of religion? When are we going to make it crystal clear that religion must be subordinate to the rule of the law, no exceptions?
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      In what way is religion overriding prior law? Google has allowed you to remove images of your property from day 1, based purely on property rights and privacy laws.

  • ridiculous (Score:4, Insightful)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @09:33AM (#60545470) Journal

    I'm ultimately fine with being reasonably respectful to places sacred to primitive peoples. I mean, really, why not be nice when we can? And nobody would say that tourists in large bunches are anything but odious.

    But to then demand a global, retroactive removal of images in order that a teensy minority of people (0.01% of the world population, assuming every aboriginal Australian is devout about this) aren't religiously offended?

    That's absurd.

    Maybe Muslims can request a removal of any Christian symbology as offensive? Or vice versa? They're both much larger populations. Aren't they entitled to the same consideration?

    Maybe next they could insist that people destroy any pictures they have saved in boxes at home or request surgery to excise it from people's memory?

    Can the pope then ask Google to please remove any picture of a Catholic church as a House Of God? Would we accept that? Can some whacko commune in Idaho ask for their property to no longer show up on Google maps? Those requests would (rightly) be seen as absurd.

    Now...since the requests are explicitly based on religious grounds (aboriginals don't want the sacred top of the rock revealed, as they apparently have a men-only and women-only sides, and they don't want their own people to inadvertently see something they shouldn't while browsing the internet by accident) I'm wondering when atheists (and probably feminists) will attack Google and Parks Australia in their usual shrill voice for this clear pandering to an imaginary sky god and obvious patriarchy?

  • by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Saturday September 26, 2020 @09:55AM (#60545496) Journal
    ... is the religion of the "woke". Google must follow their own sacred rules.
    • ... is the religion of the "woke". Google must follow their own sacred rules.

      You'll end up downvoted, but yeah, pretty much this.
      These are people that worship a big rock. Logically, we shouldn't pay any attention to their religion. I suppose it is their rock to worship as they please, but we shouldn't have to listen to their nonsense regarding said rock.

  • There was a tree called the witch tree on Lake Superior. Years ago I took a picture when it was available to the public to see the tree. Since that time some people bought the land and turned it over to a local native American Indian tribe which promptly closed off access to the tree for religious purposes.

    http://highwayhighlights.com/2... [highwayhighlights.com]

    Should their religion be an excuse to censor the for the world at large? Do muslims get to start censoring things worldwide based on their religion? We already have twitte

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