Google ordered to pay $500K to Quebec man over links to false pedophilia accusations

A Quebec Superior Court judge has ordered Google to pay $500,000 after a tech company restored a link to an online post that falsely accused a Montreal man of being a pedophile.

The man, whose identity is protected by a ban, first came across the defamatory post in 2007 when he used Google to search for his name.

The man was able to remove the link from search results displayed on Google’s Canadian site, which the company later restored.

A man described in court documents as a prominent businessman claimed the defamatory posts hurt his career and personal relationships.

California-based Google argued that Quebec’s defamation law did not apply to the case and that it was not obligated under US law to remove the link.

Judge Azimuddin Hussain said late last month that Quebec law applies, and while Google is not obligated to monitor search engine links, it must take action if it is informed that they are facilitating access to illegal content. I have decided that there is.

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