Montreal/CMEDIA: Google was ordered by a Quebec Superior Court judge to pay $500,000 to a Montreal man after restoring a link to an online post falsely accusing him of being a pedophile.
The man, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, first found the derogatory post in 2007 when he used Google to search his name.
Although the man successfully removed the link from search results that appear on Google’s Canadian site, the company later restored a link.
The man, reportedly being a prominent businessman argued the defamatory post damaged his career and personal relationships.
Headquartered in California, Google argued that Quebec defamation law was not applicable to the case and U.S. law had no obligation to remove the link.
It was ruled by Justice Azimuddin Hussain late last month that Quebec law does apply and although Google is not required to monitor the links to its search engine, it must act when it is informed that it is enabling access to illicit content.
#Google; #GoogleAccused; #QuebecSuperiorCourtjudge
