Defteros v Google LLC

The appeal in Defteros v Google LLC involved the plaintiff seeking damages for defamation from Google LLC for the publication of allegedly defamatory search results. The case was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The primary issues before the court were whether Google LLC published the defamatory material, the nature of the imputations, the applicability of the defences of innocent dissemination and qualified privilege, and the triviality of the publication.

The legal issues included determining whether Google LLC acted as a publisher by displaying the search results and the webpage accessed via a hyperlink within those results, once they were aware of the defamatory content. The court also considered whether the search results incorporated the content of the webpage accessed by the hyperlink and whether Google LLC enticed users to click on the hyperlink. The court examined whether the pleaded imputations were conveyed by the material complained of and whether Google LLC was a secondary publisher of the defamatory material, triggering the statutory defence of innocent dissemination. Additionally, the court assessed whether there was a common law or statutory qualified privilege that protected Google LLC’s actions.

The court found that Google LLC did not publish the defamatory material by displaying the search results and hyperlink. The search results did not incorporate the content of the linked webpage, and Google LLC did not entice users to click on the hyperlink. The court held that the pleaded imputations were not conveyed by the search results. Regarding the defences, the court determined that Google LLC was not a secondary publisher under the statutory defence of innocent dissemination as they did not have notice of the defamatory material on the linked webpage. The court also concluded that there was no common law or statutory qualified privilege applicable to the facts. Finally, the court found that the publication was not trivial under the circumstances.

The court dismissed the appeal, and the decision of the lower court was upheld. Google LLC was not liable for the publication of the defamatory material.