Defamation Jurisdiction?
Inc. [2014] 5 HKC 375, the Court of
First Instance found that there is a good
arguable case that Google is a publisher
of defamatory material by generating
defamatory search suggestions through
its search engine to its users and that
the Hong Kong courts have jurisdiction
over it.
Tycoon and the Internet Giant
Clash in Court
Inc. [2014] 5 HKC 375, the Plaintiff
(Yeung), a Hong Kong businessman
most famous for his success in the
entertainment industry, discovered that
typing his Chinese and English names
in the search box of the Defendant
(Google)'s search engine automatically
generated below the search box a list
of search suggestions that associated
groups (the "Autocomplete" function).
Further, on hitting the search button with
his Chinese and English names in the
search box, a list of related search results
of a similar nature was displayed at the
bottom of the page (the "Related Search"
function). His solicitors wrote to Google
and its legal representatives to demand
removal of the defamatory words that the
two functions generated. As Google failed
to comply with his request, he initiated
legal proceedings against Google in
Hong Kong.
In order for Yeung to commence
proceedings in Hong Kong against the
U.S.-based defendant, he was required to
show, among other things, that he had a
good arguable case against Google that
(1) there was publication of defamatory
words by Google to a third party reader;
and (2) Google can be regarded as a
publisher of the defamatory words being
predictions or suggestions derived from
the completely automated search process.
(For Now)
publication?
considered "published" when and
where it is comprehended by the reader.
Since Yeung's IT staff and his solicitors
were able to download and print out
copies of the Autocomplete and Related
Search results from the Google website,
the court accepted that there may have
been publication by Google to third
party readers in Hong Kong. Although
the people that downloaded and printed
the material were connected to Yeung,
the court found it to be irrelevant and
that they could still be considered as
third party readers. Overall, the court
was satisfied that there was arguably
publication of the defamatory material
by Google in Hong Kong, which gave
rise to its jurisdiction over the matter.
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