OSCE media freedom representative concerned about Canadian court ruling ordering worldwide block on website

VIENNA, 24 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović expressed concern today about a British Columbia Supreme Court ruling ordering Google to take down URLs worldwide of a company found liable for copyright and trademark infringement in Canada.

The case, Equustek Solutions Inc. v. Jack, expands the territorial application of Canadian law and forces the Internet search engine to police its site worldwide for illegal Internet content.

“It is unsettling to see a court expand its power and authority worldwide on what should be a local or, at best, a national matter,” Mijatović said. “While I recognize the need for courts to be able to provide effective remedies for plaintiffs who are being harmed economically, the extra-territorial application of law and the order to remove entire websites which may include lawful content is an attack against free expression and the free flow of information.”

Following a December 2012 order prohibiting the defendants from conducting business through any website, Google voluntarily complied with the plaintiffs’ request to remove specific webpages or URLs from its Google.ca search results.  However, Google was unwilling to block an entire category of URLs, sometimes referred to as “mother sites” from its search results worldwide, according to the court ruling.

The plaintiffs then sought an injunction to force Google Canada and Google Inc., a US company, to remove all references to the defendant on search engines worldwide.

“Search engines such as Google and Internet service providers should not shoulder the burden of enforcing private property rights,” Mijatović said. “Liability of intermediaries may have a chilling effect on Internet freedom and may lead to censorship by private companies.”

Mijatović said her office will continue to follow this case.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more atwww.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on facebook.com/osce.rfom.