Wednesday

6th Dec 2023

Google faces no EU-level fines if it ignores 'right to be forgotten' verdict

  • The European Court of Justice won't impose a fine if Google does not follow EU law on the 'right to be forgotten' (Photo: Alfonso Salgueiro)

Google won’t risk financial penalties from the EU’s top court if it chooses to ignore a recent ‘right to be forgotten’ judgement.

“The [European] Court of Justice has no power to fine a company in this context, competition law yes, but not here,” a contact at the Luxembourg-based legal arbiter told this website on Thursday (15 May).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Fines would instead be handed out at member state level.

The Court earlier this week clarified how national courts need to interpret the right from a two-decade old EU directive on data protection.

The decision means people in the EU can ask Google and any other search operator to remove content deemed out-dated or irrelevant.

It is final and cannot be appealed by the US-based company.

The Court’s decision can only change if the EU law is modified.

The case stems back to 2012 when Spanish citizen Mario Costeja Gonzalez filed a complaint against Google.

Gonzalez demanded Google filter out his name from search queries linked to the repossession of his homes in a story first published in the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.

The Court agreed with Gonzalez.

Vilified and celebrated

The verdict has been both vilified and celebrated by pro-rights civil society groups.

The London-based Index on Censorship says it will “open up the flood gates” with the BBC reporting the US internet giant has already received ‘right to be forgotten’ requests from a paedophile and a British former politician seeking re-election.

“Somebody who has an embarrassing photo, we are not saying ‘tough luck to them’, there should be a way for them to mitigate their damages but this particular case (the Gonzalez case) was in effect a public notice,” said Sean Gallagher at the pro-transparency NGO.

Gallagher warned the implications could be severe because the requests block people from accessing something that was on the public record and not something that was slanderous or libellous.

He said the ruling means Gonzalez could also request Google to remove the Court’s own judgement on the case which mentions his name from the search results if he so chose.

The right to privacy, according to the verdict, is now more important than the right for the public to be informed, noted Gallagher.

The BBC cited Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales describing the decision as "one of the most wide-sweeping internet censorship rulings that I've ever seen".

He said the Court's verdict makes no sense.

Not everyone agrees.

Joe McNamee, the director of European Digital Rights, a Brussels-based NGO, said that even though the balance is in favour of the right to privacy there are “undefined circumstances” where this is not the case.

He pointed out Google already engages in extensive removal of links from its search service.

Last year, the company pulled 214 million links from its search engine out of a total of 235 million requests, he noted.

“Google chose to remove these search results globally, even though they have not been subject to any legal process outside the US,” he said in an email.

Some are concerned the ruling could create a system where people in the US would be able to access information on the search engine no longer visible in the EU.

But McNamee pointed out Google already de-indexes on a national level on the basis of various legal and ad hoc agreements.

“It removes, for example, sites accused of hate speech in Google.de, but leaves them available via Google.com,” he said.

EU data protection reform

EU legislators, for their part, are overhauling the 1995 directive.

The European Commission upgraded it to a regulation in 2012, backed by the European Parliament, but negotiations are stuck among member states.

The reformed regulation says people can have their data removed when there are no legitimate grounds for retaining it.

It also states data can be retained “where it is necessary for historical, statistical and scientific (...) purposes”.

Public interest in the area of public health, freedom of expression, and other exemptions are given when the data should be kept alive.

The Greek EU presidency, for its part, has yet to decide whether to include the Court’s verdict as an agenda item at the June meeting on data protection.

“Now with the Court ruling, it might make things, depending on the reaction of member states, either more difficult or easier,” said Greek EU presidency spokesperson Alexandros Vidouris.

Last year, both Spain and Germany suggested that people may abuse the right to be forgotten “with fraudulent intent” when it comes to finances.

Austria, Estonia, France and Ireland, for their part, welcomed the right in the new legislation.

Google removes press links after EU ruling

Google has removed over 70,000 links amid accusations it is trying to promote critical reactions to a EU court ruling by targeting major media outlets.

Analysis

How Wilders' Dutch extremism goes way beyond Islamophobia

Without losing sight of his pervasive Islamophobia, it is essential to note Geert Wilders' far-right extremism extends to other issues that could drastically alter the nature of Dutch politics — and end its often constructive role in advancing EU policies.

Latest News

  1. Crunch talks seek breakthrough on EU asylum overhaul
  2. Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies
  3. 'Green' banks lend most to polluters, reveals ECB
  4. Tense EU-China summit showdown unlikely to bear fruit
  5. A look to the past and the future of China-EU relations
  6. Tusk's difficult in-tray on Poland's judicial independence
  7. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  8. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us