A French court has ordered Google to remove images of former Formula One chief Max Mosley at an orgy from online searches.
According to The New York Times, Mosley filed a lawsuit to order Google to censor out photos of him at an orgy that were part of a report from a newspaper back in 2008. The photos show Mosley at a S&M party.
The newspaper, the now defunct News of the World, was sued by the former F1 boss for $96,000 for breach of privacy.
Mosley argued before the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris that it is illegal in France to distribute photos of a person in a private space without their permission. The court agreed with Mosley.
Some, including the search engine giant, are worried about what the ruling means in terms of censorship. Carsten Casper, a privacy and security analyst at Berlin's Gartner said, "At this point in time, the pendulum is swinging toward individuals' privacy and away from freedom of speech."
Google has promised to appeal the ruling, BBC News reports. The tech company feels that the ruling "should worry all those who defend freedom of expression on the internet."
In 2011, Mosley said that Google had agreed to remove links to the story and pictures on a case-by-case basis. He then said that he would pursue legal action against the company.
He said that Google told him it was "technically feasible" to block an image from searches, but didn't want to as "a matter of principle."
Mosely said, "I think you cannot underestimate that if someone puts a picture on the web that they shouldn't, that will go on forever unless action is taken."
image: Wikimedia Commons
