Top EU court rules Google 'must remove' inaccurate information

Operator of search engine must de-reference information if it is found manifestly inaccurate, says Court

Ata Ufuk Seker |09.12.2022

BRUSSELS

Europe's top court said Thursday that Google must remove all data that is proven to be false by users.

"The operator of a search engine must dereference information found in the referenced content where the person requesting dereferencing proves that such information is manifestly inaccurate," said the Court of Justice of the EU.

In the judgement, the court stated that proof regarding the content removal do not require a judicial decision against the publisher of the website.

"The Court points out that the right to protection of personal data is not an absolute right but must be considered in relation to its function in society and be balanced against other fundamental rights, in accordance with the principle of proportionality," it added.

The ruling was related to the case in which two managers of a group of investment companies requested Google to de-reference results of a search made on the basis of their names, which provided links to certain articles criticizing that group’s investment model.

The two assert that those articles contain inaccurate claims and also requested the search engine to remove photos of them.

Google, however, refused to comply with that request, over "it was unaware whether the information contained in those articles was accurate or not."

Later, The German Federal Court of Justice requested the Court of Justice to provide an interpretation of the general data protection regulation, which governs the right to erasure "right to be forgotten."