The one real answer I see is that reporting itself still needs to be policed. If someone wants to post identifying details about a person that committed a crime then they are also agreeing / required to update that post as time goes on.
Or else. Perhaps some kind of special case libel charge can then apply.
Libel itself is usually argued using the truth as a primary defence. But perhaps there needs to be a variant that includes and allows the updated truth around factors such as time spent / reparations / time elapsed / severity / non-repeat / good behavior etc. A court might then order the removal or apply a penalty for failing to update to reflect that truth. This might improve outcomes for people. Maybe not.
I can easily see how a old web page from twenty years ago could haunt you forever. To take a trivial example: parking or speeding tickets. What if they were permanently published? For everyone. Big ouch. People are wierd enough about misdemeanors to likely knock you back for all sorts of things, let alone car theft or some drugs charge. I wonder how many felony records came out of the drug war? Too many. Felonies around cannabis are certainly questionable now and should have been expunged in most places. (Is it cynical to assume plenty haven't?)
The caveat is that even I can see multiple issues with this: historical records. Old news reports are in themselves part of the historic record. But they are precisely part of the issue. So some obvious tuning is required somehow. I can also see multiple ways the takedown mechanism itself would be abused. DMCA and everything around copyright has shown quite clearly these types of mechanisms can be abused and gamed.
Or else. Perhaps some kind of special case libel charge can then apply.
Libel itself is usually argued using the truth as a primary defence. But perhaps there needs to be a variant that includes and allows the updated truth around factors such as time spent / reparations / time elapsed / severity / non-repeat / good behavior etc. A court might then order the removal or apply a penalty for failing to update to reflect that truth. This might improve outcomes for people. Maybe not.
I can easily see how a old web page from twenty years ago could haunt you forever. To take a trivial example: parking or speeding tickets. What if they were permanently published? For everyone. Big ouch. People are wierd enough about misdemeanors to likely knock you back for all sorts of things, let alone car theft or some drugs charge. I wonder how many felony records came out of the drug war? Too many. Felonies around cannabis are certainly questionable now and should have been expunged in most places. (Is it cynical to assume plenty haven't?)
The caveat is that even I can see multiple issues with this: historical records. Old news reports are in themselves part of the historic record. But they are precisely part of the issue. So some obvious tuning is required somehow. I can also see multiple ways the takedown mechanism itself would be abused. DMCA and everything around copyright has shown quite clearly these types of mechanisms can be abused and gamed.
Life is very complicated.