An Australian court has ordered Google to identify the person behind an anonymous bad review of a dentist.<\/p>\n
Dr Matthew Kabbabe, a teeth-whitening specialist in Melbourne, sought the order so he could sue for defamation.<\/p>\n
He claimed user CBsm 23 had damaged his business by telling others to “STAY AWAY” from a procedure criticised as “extremely awkward and uncomfortable”.<\/p>\n
The ruling forces the hand of the tech giant, which has previously defended allowing negative reviews on its site.<\/p>\n
Under the order, Google will be required to pass to Dr Kabbabe any personal details such as any names, phone numbers, location metadata and IP addresses linked to the account.<\/p>\n
International law allows for people to seek documents from overseas parties that they need for their case.<\/p>\n
Google had previously rejected the dentist’s requests for the review to be removed, or to share information about its author.<\/p>\n
According to his affidavit, Google had told Dr Kabbabe: “[W]e do not have any means to investigate where and when the ID was created.”<\/p>\n
However, Justice Bernard Murphy ruled that Dr Kabbabe had grounds to pursue a defamation case and that Google was “likely to have or have had control of a document or thing that would help ascertain that description of the prospective respondent”.<\/p>\n
Mr Kabbabe’s lawyer described the ruling as a “groundbreaking” win for small businesses, and argued Google had a duty of care in providing a platform for potentially defamatory postings.<\/p>\n
“If you’re out there trying to hide by anonymity, even via VPN, I think the court system’s catching up now and there are ways and means of obtaining that information,” Mark Stanarevic told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n
Google is yet to reply to queries about the ruling. The firm has previously been reluctant to remove bad reviews, but has done so in several instances following court orders.<\/p>\n
Last year, it told Australian law reform experts that defamation cases over online reviews could lead to the suppression of consumer rights and free speech.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"