Google was ordered in Mexico to pay the equivalent of nearly $ 245 million to a private individual for destroying her reputation.
The American search engine giant announced it on Friday and announced it would be appealing.
Writer and lawyer Ulrich Richter Morales won against Google in a Mexican civil court. (archival image)
Judge Morales is well known in Mexico as an author. He has written several books on civil rights. (archival image)
Google has been found guilty by a Mexican civil court and must pay Judge Morales approximately $ 245 million in damages. (archival image)
AFP
On June 13, Google received a direct debit of five billion Mexican pesos, the equivalent of $ 245 million, to lawyer Ulrich Richter Morales, his wife and their joint venture, the US firm said in a brief statement to the AFP news agency.
Google is accused of “tolerating and promoting the blog” that allegedly damaged the lawyer’s reputation. “We regret a re-conviction on appeal by a civil court in Mexico City, which we consider arbitrary, excessive and unfounded,” added Google. The group wants to defend itself because the sentence violates the right to freedom of expression and other fundamental principles. The case will now go to the Supreme Court.
Google is said to have made the blog distribution possible
The plaintiff claims that Google has made it possible to spread a blog claiming that the lawyer was involved in alleged crimes such as money laundering, trading in influence, and document forgery.
“I don’t know what to say. Thank you,” commented the lawyer who authored several books on civil rights, including one titled “Digital Citizen. Fake News and Post-Truth in the Internet Age.” Morales Richter says he asked Google to remove the blog in 2015 He then sued for damages for damage to his reputation and won in the first instance.
Google has already participated in many other such lawsuits in other countries.
In early June, an Australian federal court ordered the internet giant to pay over $ 490,000 to an Australian politician who felt vilified in comedian videos posted on Google’s YouTube site.