Re:'Right to be forgotten' could threaten global free speech...
by ocdtrekkie on Monday September 10, 2018 @11:03AM
(#17952309)
Google operates in Canada (including having offices and employees), and must obey Canadian law if it would like to continue to do so.
While those who are fans of international corporations (for some reason), seem to think that these global megacorps should be above the law, having to answer to no country's authority, the reality is, a global corporation is beholden to follow the law of every country it operates in. And hence, if Canada tells Google to do something internationally, Google can either choose to comply, or not do business in Canada.
You can see a similar effect in how the US imposes bans on operating in some countries. If a company wants to do business in the US, it has to obey the US's bans on doing business with North Korea or Iran or what have you. Since so much global business includes US products or needs the US market, our bans have to be followed by more than just folks who live here in the US. If you recall the whole issue with ZTE being effectively shut down over a US ban because they dealt with Iran, you can see how a US law can shut down a Chinese company for doing business with a completely different country.
A country can define the conditions for doing business there as whatever it wants, and can impose any level of punishment that it can manage to enforce on a company that doesn't comply. That's sovereignty, and all countries have it.
While those who are fans of international corporations (for some reason), seem to think that these global megacorps should be above the law, having to answer to no country's authority, the reality is, a global corporation is beholden to follow the law of every country it operates in. And hence, if Canada tells Google to do something internationally, Google can either choose to comply, or not do business in Canada.
You can see a similar effect in how the US imposes bans on operating in some countries. If a company wants to do business in the US, it has to obey the US's bans on doing business with North Korea or Iran or what have you. Since so much global business includes US products or needs the US market, our bans have to be followed by more than just folks who live here in the US. If you recall the whole issue with ZTE being effectively shut down over a US ban because they dealt with Iran, you can see how a US law can shut down a Chinese company for doing business with a completely different country.
A country can define the conditions for doing business there as whatever it wants, and can impose any level of punishment that it can manage to enforce on a company that doesn't comply. That's sovereignty, and all countries have it.