TechCrunch: Google Argues Against Global “Right to Be Forgotten”

Google contends that Europe’s internet privacy rules should not extend to global domains. In 2014, the European Court of Justice “ruled search engines must respect Europeans’ privacy rights, and – on request – remove erroneous, irrelevant and/or outdated information about a private citizen,” reports Natasha Lomas for TechCrunch. Google responded by applying delistings on local European domains, and France fined the company €100,000 for non-compliance. The court is reviewing the issue once again. Google argues the law is vague, harmful to free speech and allows authoritarians to remove valid criticism. “The current implementation of the rtbf [right to be forgotten] also means Google must review requests, to balance the public right to know against individual privacy rights,” Lomas notes. The law’s supporters have contended that a global internet should be prepared to provide universal rights and protections. – YaleGlobal