Illegal search engines provide access to illegal materials or are themselves illegal, depending on the country. They may also provide copyrighted materials for free or offend powerful parties. Visiting them can be a serious offense.
When people discuss illegal search engines, what they typically mean are search engines designed or used primarily to access illegal materials. A search engine provides directions to a site, but doesn’t contain any of the site’s materials, so it’s usually not perpetrating a crime. In some cases, a search engine might be considered illegal in a specific country because that country doesn’t want its population to have access to the information the site provides, even if that information isn’t necessarily criminal. Which search engines are illegal always depends on where someone is conducting the search, but in many cases, one that is illegal will be blocked in an area where people can’t use it.
No matter what name different search engines use, there are actually only two types of illegal search engines: those that provide access to illegal materials and those that are themselves illegal. Sometimes, a search engine could fall into both categories. There is no such thing as one that is universally illegal and most are still accessible even if they are blocked. This, however, often constitutes a crime in itself.
Some of these search engines are used as a means of accessing media for which a person might otherwise be required to pay. For example, copyrighted materials are often found for free on illegal search engines. The precise way these search engines operate varies, and the specific mechanism by which the materials are accessed has nothing to do with why these search engines are illegal. What is important, legally speaking, is whether or not the person distributing the articles has the right to do so, and whether or not the distribution violates copyright laws.
Search engines can also be considered illegal if they threaten a country’s government in any way or if the government doesn’t like them. Sometimes, a government may want to censor materials and may not be able to reach an agreement with the company about which websites it will list. In these cases, the site may not even allow access to specifically illegal materials. The materials might show government officials in a bad light or might offend some powerful parties, but the words or images themselves might still be legal. Visiting illegal search engines is often a serious offense when the search engine itself, and not the materials it provides access to, is deemed illegal.
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