The editor of the Bolton News has spoken out against the EU Court of Justice 'right to be forgotten’ ruling after being notified by Google that a link to one of his newspaper website stories was being removed.
Google notified the newspaper through Newsquest’s main office of the removal, which was made on a story about the jailing of three men for an attack on three soldiers in a nightclub.
Bolton News editor-in-chief Ian Savage said: “As the editor of a newspaper, I believe passionately in the freedom of the press and I will fight any attempts to remove legitimate content.
"We are a responsible newspaper and our aim is to cover local news which is of both interest and importance to people.
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“Clearly, people who aren’t happy that stories which we have legitimately published should not have the right to have them removed from a Google search, in my view.
“Moreover, it is a completely pointless exercise. Those who ask for these articles to be removed simply invite more publicity on themselves.
“This was an extremely serious court case, which merited a front page when we ran it back in 2010.
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"To have this disappear from Google searches is frankly ridiculous, which is why I feel it’s so important to highlight this issue.”
In May the ECJ ruled that search engines must weigh "the legitimate interest of internet users potentially interested in having access to that information" against the right to privacy and protection of personal data – when faced with a request to de-list private information.
When an agreement cannot be reached, the Luxembourg-based court said the matter can be referred to a local judge or regulator.
Picture: Reuters
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