Google LLC v Defteros

The High Court of Australia heard an appeal from the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria concerning whether Google LLC, as the operator of an internet search engine, was a "publisher" of defamatory material. The dispute arose when a search query using the respondent's name generated a search result that included a hyperlink to an article on a newspaper's website containing defamatory matter concerning the respondent. The defamatory content itself was not reproduced in the search result, which instead comprised a title, a snippet of text, and a hyperlink to the original article.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether Google's act of providing a search result, which included a hyperlink to a webpage containing defamatory material, constituted an "act of participation in the communication of defamatory matter to a third party," thereby making Google a publisher at common law. This required the Court to consider the principles of publication in defamation law and how they apply to the automated operation of an internet search engine.

The Court reasoned that while publication in defamation requires an act of participation in the communication of defamatory matter to a third party, the operation of Google's search engine, which is a fully automated process, did not amount to such participation. The Court distinguished between providing a hyperlink to defamatory material and reproducing or incorporating that material. It held that merely providing a hyperlink, which directs a user to another webpage and assists them in accessing it, does not make the search engine operator a publisher of the content on that linked page. The Court concluded that Google, by providing the hyperlink to the defamatory article, did not publish the defamatory matter.

Consequently, the High Court allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders of the Court of Appeal and ordering that there be judgment for the defendant (Google LLC). The appellant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal.