Man battling Google wins $500K for search result links calling him a pedophile

Re:Man battling Google wins $500K for search result links ca... by supermatt on Friday April 21, 2023 @09:01AM (#35653067)

What i find baffling is that (according to this article) under Canadian law, you can post whatever defamatory content you want and as long as you dont get sued within a year, and no matter if the defamed party knows of it or not, it automatically becomes protected speech? Thats pretty messed up.

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Re:Man battling Google wins $500K for search result links ca... by cldellow on Friday April 21, 2023 @10:19AM (#35654149)

I think the article incorrectly summarizes the judge's order. The order makes clear that it was a lawyer telling the plaintiff that the _US state_ barred the action.

> [56] As for the possibility of suing the author of the Defamatory Post for defamation, the Plaintiff was advised by a lawyer in Town B that he was time-barred because, under [State A] law, the action must be brought within one year of its appearance, regardless of when the victim of the defamation sees the publication.

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Re:Man battling Google wins $500K for search result links ca... by thfuran on Friday April 21, 2023 @10:58AM (#35654770)

I don't think [State A] not being Canada does much to make that law more sensible.

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Re:Man battling Google wins $500K for search result links ca... by cldellow on Friday April 21, 2023 @12:01PM (#35655787)

Oh, yeah, I think it's a bad law. But whereas I'd find it baffling for Canada to have such a law, I'm somehow not at all surprised that there are US states that are OK with that: "peace, order, and good government" vs "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

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Re:Man battling Google wins $500K for search result links ca... by thfuran on Friday April 21, 2023 @12:56PM (#35656633)

US does tend to be on the fairly extreme end of protecting speech.

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