In September, the Washington Post received an unusual request: Would it remove a music review from the Internet? The request came from Dejan Lazić, a Croatian-born pianist. Not hearing from the Post, he sent another request at the end of October, this time mentioning the “right to be forgotten.” This is a concept, somewhat vague, that has taken hold in the European Union, where he lives. It has to do with information, misinformation, or opinions about oneself on the Internet. Does a person have to live with these things forever? What if they stigmatize him? Do we have any say at all over our “Google footprint”?
In 2010, Lazić received a mixed review from the Post’s music critic, Anne Midgette (a friend of mine, a lovely woman, and a superb critic). She liked some things, she didn’t like some things — that’s life in the big city. The pianist’s point to the newspaper was that this review had dogged him for four years. The review was marring his “Google results” (i.e., what comes up when you Google his name). This was unfair.
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