A Montrealer who launched a long crusade against Google after seeing his reputation ruined by a fraudulent website was awarded $500,000 for damage caused by the web giant.
“Any ordinary person would suffer from it [grandement] by falsely labeling them child molesters and pederasts and knowing that a search engine is facilitating access to the site with the false statements,” Supreme Court Justice Azimuddin Hussain confirmed in a recent decision.
A publication ban prevents us from identifying the victim, who the verdict is a “leading businessman who has lived a successful life in the public and private sectors,” in both Canada and the United States.
His nightmare began in 2007 when he became aware of a post on a website that then mentioned that he was a scammer, but even worse that he had been convicted of pedophilia in 1984.
By conducting a simple Google search using his own name, impersonating the vast majority of internet users, he made the horrific discovery.
“He had no way of explaining why meetings with potential clients didn’t result in advances, even though the meetings themselves appeared to be going well,” the ruling reads.
Unsuccessful steps
Quickly, the victim and some friends took steps to remove the mention of this website that appeared in Google’s first results. But without much success.
In 2009, the digital giant informed the complainant that it had granted his application. However, the link was only removed from the Canadian version of Google, not the US platform.
The victim’s celebrations were short-lived when, in 2011, he discovered the fraudulent site was once again popping up in the top search results. The same unpleasant surprise happened in 2015.
Tired of Google’s lack of cooperation, he finally initiated a court case in 2016 to settle the situation once and for all.
Huge damage
In court, the victim testified that she had suffered tremendously in this whole process, she had lost a fortune, so she was having trouble making ends meet. Friends who remained loyal to him even had to lend him money.
“The plaintiff testified to his recurring shame at being associated with the defamatory message. He had suicidal thoughts at times,” describes Judge Hussain’s decision, who specifies that the victim had proved “without a reasonable doubt” that the alleged crimes were simply wrong.
“The crime is so heinous that ordinary people don’t believe the charges […] can be made without some truth. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, as the saying goes (sometimes incorrectly),” the judge laments, adding that the credibility that the public ascribes to Google has been in jeopardy.
Given the multiple psychological effects on the victim, Judge Hussain therefore ordered Google to pay him the sum of $500,000, he who had initially asked for $6 million.
“The defamatory message is still hidden in cyberspace, waiting to be caught by the dynamic and kaleidoscopic algorithms of Google search to inject its venom. Insecurity itself can be experienced by people as a form of mental anguish.
Do you have any information about this story that you would like to share with us?
Do you have a scoop that might be of interest to our readers?
Write to us or call us directly at 1-800-63SCOOP.