Google has been ordered by a German court to block search results of sex orgy photos of ex-Formula One boss Max Mosley in the country. The company has, however, steeled its resolve to fight the court order.
The ruling by a Hamburg Regional Court on Friday, Jan. 24, orders the search giant to remove the Nazi-themed orgy images which show Mosley involved with prostitutes. Per the judge, the six images were taken from a video of the sadomasochistic orgy and invaded Mosley's privacy.
"The court is of the opinion that the banned pictures of the plaintiff severely violate his private sphere, as they show him active in sexual practices," the court said.
Just two months earlier, a French court had ordered Google to take down the links related to Mosley's images, which were originally secretly filmed in 2008 by Britain's now non-operational News of the World tabloid. Mosley, 73, has acknowledged that he was engaged in nefarious activities with the five women and paid them money. He, however, has denied that the orgy was Nazi-themed.
Per the latest ruling, Google will now have to refrain from showing the images in its search results at Google.de. In the event Google chooses not comply and continues to show the photos in its search results, it may face a fine of up to EUR 250,000 (approximately $342,175).
Google, however, has the option to appeal the ruling. According to the court, even though Google did not take the photos, it holds responsibility as the distributor of the same.
"Today's ruling, while about a single person and particular content, sets a disturbing precedent that could require Internet services to monitor every bit of content they transmit or store for their users," said Daphne Keller, Google's associate general counsel, in a statement. "We believe that this ruling conflicts with European law."
The court's decision comes as an impediment for Google as it perseveres to guard a global stand that its search engine is just a means of conveying content and should not be accountable for monitoring the same.
While Google can remove photos on its website, it does not have any control over the same being reposted by others.
In September 2013, Google revealed that it had already deleted "hundreds of pages for Mr. Mosley" as part of a procedure that lets one delete specific page from its search results.
Google has revealed it will appeal the court ruling.
