Associated Incidents
Ever googled yourself and not like what you've found? What if the search engine posted your photo next to that of gangster Chopper Read?
In a landmark case, the High Court has allowed Google to be sued for defamation.
The court today gave Milorad Trkulja the green light to sue the search engine after he argued a Google search for 'Melbourne criminal underworld photos' brought up images of him alongside gangland figures, including Chopper Read and Mick Gatto.
The defamation case will set a powerful precedent for the responsibilities of search engines and individuals' right to deletion, also known as 'the right to be forgotten'.
Mr Trkulja argued the search results created a "false innuendo" suggesting he had been involved in crime and this had damaged his reputation, including one incident when he had been snubbed at a wedding.
Mr Trkulja also claims to have been defamed by Google's autocomplete function and text-based search results referring to him. He says the autocomplete options for his name included phrases like 'is a former hit man', 'criminal' and 'underworld'.
In 2012, Mr Trkulja successfully argued in the Victorian Supreme Court that Google defamed him by publishing the photos, but this was overturned on appeal. The case then went to the High Court, which today decided in Trkulja's favour.
Google's lawyers argued it would be "irrational" for someone to assume the photos in a Google image search for underworld figures are all of criminals, but the court found that was not the case. It found "an ordinary reasonable person" using Google would infer that people pictured alongside the criminals would be "connected with criminality".
A spokesperson for Google said the company "will continue to defend the claim", but would not comment further on ongoing legal matters.