In a bid to limit the power of the “Right to Be Forgotten” which has been put in practice in both European Union and Argentina since 2006, Google is fighting a case in England’s High Court by claiming that the data is “Journalistic”.If you are not familiar with the concept of the “Right to Be Forgotten”, it basically allows people, and I am paraphrasing here,
To live their lives in a way which is not being perpetually or periodically stigmatized as a consequence of a specific action performed in the past.
The case which is pending in England’s High court has been filed by two businessmen who were both convicted of white-collar crimes in the ’90s and had requested Google to delist URLs which referenced their convictions including the news articles. When Google denied their request, both the businessmen sued Google under a 2014 European Union ruling which upheld the right to be forgotten.
Being the first case on Right to Be Forgotten in England’s high court, this case is very important as it will set the ground rules for the ongoing debate between personal privacy and freedom of expression on the internet.
In its defense, the search giant Google has been arguing that the company should be protected under the exception made for journalism as it provides access to journalistic content. However, this argument of Google is not going down well with many people as the company has always maintained its stance of being a disinterested arbiter of information, which means that the company has no editorial control over the content which comes up in searches.
