Google Must Remove a Search Result Globally, Canada Court Rules
29 June 2017 - 11:20AM
Dow Jones News
By Jack Nicas
Canada's top court ruled that Google can be forced to remove
search results globally, adding to the constraints governments and
courts are exerting over tech giants as those companies' influence
grows.
The Supreme Court of Canada on Wednesday upheld a lower court's
ruling that Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., must remove from its
search results websites belonging to a Canadian company that was
illegally selling technology of another firm.
On Wednesday the company said it was reviewing the Canadian
court's decision and evaluating its next steps.
A similar issue is being examined in France, where France's
privacy regulator is fighting Google over its implementation of
Europe's "right to be forgotten." That rule enables European
residents to force search engines to remove links from searches for
their own names, if the information is old, irrelevant or infringes
on their privacy. Google has complied with the rule in Europe, but
has resisted removing links from its search results world-wide.
Japan's Supreme Court ruled in favor of Google earlier this year
that individuals there couldn't force the company to remove search
results.
As Google has become the world's go-to source for information,
the company has battled with privacy groups, regulators and
government authorities over its search results. Google has argued
its search results are determined by algorithms and are a matter of
free speech, and it has resisted attempts to censor results.
Google on Tuesday was fined a record $2.7 billion by the
European Union's antitrust regulator for what it alleged was
Google's use of its search engine to favor its own
comparison-shopping service.
Free-speech advocates criticized the Canadian decision, saying
it could encourage censorship. "Other countries may soon follow
this example, in ways that more obviously force Google to become
the world's censor," Dinah PoKempner, general counsel of Human
Rights Watch, said in a statement. "If every country tries to
enforce its own idea of what is proper to put on the internet
globally, we will soon have a race to the bottom where human rights
will be the loser."
Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 28, 2017 21:05 ET (01:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024