An unprecedented ruling by Canada’s Supreme Court will allow the country to mandate the removal of search results in Google’s search engine on a global scale.
In its judgment, the Canadian Supreme Court stated:
“The internet has no borders – its natural habitat is global. The only way to ensure that the interlocutory injunction attained its objective was to have it apply where Google operates – globally.”
This decision originates from claims dating back to 2012. Equustek Solutions Inc., a small technology company in British Columbia, alleged that another distributor stole its trade secrets and used them to design and manufacture a competing product.
The Supreme Court ordered Google to remove search results for the other distributor’s websites in any country where they’re displayed. However, Google initially removed search results only from its Canadian version.
Google appealed the decision to enforce the removal of search results worldwide, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal.
The tech giant argued that the decision raised concerns over freedom of expression. In response, the Supreme Court stated:
“We have not, to date, accepted that freedom of expression requires the facilitation of the unlawful sale of goods.”
The Supreme Court believes its decision to have Google remove search results globally was essential because people in other countries could still locate and purchase products from the infringing distributor.
Google can no longer appeal the Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision. The only recourse for Google to potentially change the order would be if complying with it results in violating laws in other countries.
As of now, no such application has been made, and Google has yet to respond to requests for comment.
