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Google Loses Autocomplete Defamation Case
superglaze writes "Google has been found liable in an Italian court for defamatory comments made against an anonymous plaintiff — the complainant's name, when googled, elicited autocomplete suggestions that translate as 'con man' and 'fraud.' Google was found not to qualify for EU 'safe harbour' protection because the autocomplete suggestions were deemed to be Google's own creation, and not something merely passing through its systems."
Oh... Italian court judges.... Well you know what SPQR means - Sono Pazzi Questi Romani (These Romans are crazy)
This is not controlling speech. It is punishing specific speech. A critical difference.
Libel and slander are something that Google should be held liable for no different than anyone else.
Unless you hold the position that you can make baseless accusations and character assassinations of people and companies without reprisal your characterization of this as censorship and oppression is a little ridiculous.
Do I believe that Google did this deliberately? Of course not. Safe Harbor is a stupid defense when Google's own code is generating the offending text. Obviously they should refrain from disparaging words and remarks in the auto-complete as they cannot possibly predict or verify if such words are libelous or slander against a person.
Have we really lost anything by doing so? Has Google been oppressed and the world less able to search for information? Does this affect the web with negative legal precedence and adversely affect our ability to express ourselves? Hardly.