Google win court battle
Metropolitan International Schools, a company specialising in distance learning, have lost their legal battle with internet giant Google.
The MIS branded Google liable for slander when defamatory comments from a forum could be seen in search results for the Metropolitan International School. The MIS claimed Google to be a publisher of this content.
However, the High Court has ruled that Google is merely a “facilitator,” and not a publisher in all instances of libellous comments appearing in its search result snippets.
Mr Justice Eady ruled that: "When a snippet is thrown up on the user's screen in response to his search, it points him in the direction of an entry somewhere on the web that corresponds, to a greater or lesser extent, to the search terms he has typed in. It is for him to access or not, as he chooses. [Google] has merely, by the provision of its search service, played the role of a facilitator."
Welcome news for search engines
The High Court ruling is more in keeping with current US rather than UK legislation. The US Communications Decency Act makes clear that intermediaries are not responsible for defamation being published online.
The case is the first instance of a UK ruling regarding search engine liability for defamation online, and Struan Robson, a lawyer at
Pinsent Masons, stated that “It is undoubtedly a brilliant result for Google and other search engines.”
A Google Spokesperson responded to Mr Justice Eady’s ruling:
“We are pleased with this result, which reinforces the principle that search engines aren't responsible for content that is published on third party websites.
“Mr Justice Eady made clear if someone feels they have been defamed by material on a website then they should address their complaint to the person who actually wrote and published the material, and not a search engine, which simply provides a searchable index of content on the internet.”
