- A Montreal businessman was defamed by a website that falsely accused him of being a pedophile
- He asked Google to remove the links to the website from his search results, but Google refused citing US law and the free trade agreement
- A Quebec judge ordered Google to pay the businessman $500,000 and remove the defamatory links
Google, the American technology giant, has been ordered by Quebec courts to pay $500,000 to a Montreal businessman who was the victim of online defamation. The complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, discovered in 2007 that a website falsely accused him of being a pedophile convicted in 1984.
The website in question, RipoffReport.com, published a defamatory report in April 2006, without proof or verification. The site’s founder refused to remove the content and demanded that the complainant prove his innocence. Faced with this situation, the complainant turned to Google to request the removal of the links to the website and the excerpt from the report that appeared in the search results.
Google initially agreed to remove the links on the Canadian version of its search engine, but not on the American version. Then, in 2015, Google refused to remove again the links that had reappeared on the Canadian version. Google had relied on the US Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability for content posted by third parties. Google had also invoked the Canada-United States-Mexico free trade agreement to assert that the Quebec law which obliges search engines to remove illegal content did not apply.
Google ordered to pay $500,000 in damages
Judge Azimuddin Hussain of the Superior Court of Quebec rejected these arguments and found that Google had erred in interpreting Canadian law. He pointed out that Google ignored the plaintiff in various ways and helped spread the defamatory content. He ordered Google to pay the plaintiff $500,000 in damages moral and exemplary. He also ordered Google to permanently remove links to the offending website from its search results in Quebec.
Judge Hussain called the plaintiff’s case a grim odyssey and compared his situation to that of Franz Kafka’s character, Josef K., in The trial. He said the complainant woke up one day to find himself accused of a crime he did not commit and suffered serious consequences to his reputation and career. He added that Google had a social and ethical responsibility as the world leader in online information.
Google has yet to comment on the decision. of Judge Hussain or indicated whether he intended to appeal. The plaintiff, for his part, said he was relieved and satisfied with the judgment rendered in his favour.
