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Court Rules Google's Search Results Qualify As Free Speech

Posted by timothy on from the hey-man-it's-what-we-feel-about-those-results dept.

wabrandsma writes with this news from Ars Technica: The regulation of Google's search results has come up from time to time over the past decade, and although the idea has gained some traction in Europe (most recently with "right to be forgotten" laws), courts and regulatory bodies in the U.S. have generally agreed that Google's search results are considered free speech. That consensus was upheld last Thursday, when a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Google's right to order its search results as it sees fit.

4 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I am sure there will be a challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why would there be a challenge? And if there were, why would SCOTUS agree to hear it? Both the Supreme Court and Republicans love the idea of corporations as people, hence free speech rights for these groups. If the liberal jurisdiction supports big corporations' free speech rights, how much more will SCOTUS and the Republican majority?

    --MyLongNickname

  2. Responsibilitiy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, if Google's search results are considered free speech, do they also have the same responsibilities as other forms of free speech.
    What if you search for a person and the results incorrectly suggests that the person is a pedophile? Does that qualify as libel, or is that suddenly not Google's problem?

  3. Re:I am sure there will be a challenge by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Obviously, if the company does something illegal the people behind it will be prosecuted, too.

    Umm, no. Hence the Limited Liability Corporation.

    Note that anyone who owns stock is one of the "people behind it ("it" being the corporation)", so your view of the way corporate law words would make YOU liable for the actions of any corporation whose stock is part of your 401k....

    Fortunately, the rest of us live in a world of Limited Liability Corporations, where the owners are not held liable for the actions of the managers....

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  4. Re:Nothing to do with freedom of speech of 1st ame by jedidiah · · Score: 1, Interesting

    So this is actually a freedom of the press issue?

    That at least seems to be more relevant, make more sense, and avoids expanding this whole "corporations are people" nonsense.

    You can do the right thing and still do it for the wrong reason and manage to cause collateral damage. This is another fine case of that.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.