Pink News republishes stories removed from Google search results under ‘right to be forgotten’

Pink News has republished details of 19 stories affected by "right to be forgotten" laws.

The website said in an editorial statement that ithe rules are "an infringement on press freedom, and have a chilling effect on freedom of speech".

It said: "Given this, we will continue to re-publish lists of content that has been removed from search engines in Europe.

"We have no doubt that this article itself may soon find itself removed from Google and Bing in Europe."

Stories given the "right to be forgotten" under certain search terms include: Gay porn star jailed after trying to smuggle crystal meth in his anus, EastEnders star cut from Children in Need quiz after offending S Club 7 with anti-gay joke and Football fans convicted for homophobic jibes in landmark case.

The original 'right to be forgotten' ruling was passed in the EU Court of Justice in mid-May 2014, allowing individuals to force the removal of links under certain search terms to website articles.

At the end of that month, Google introduced an online form where requests could be made.

In July 2014, Google admitted that it had made 'right to be forgotten' removal mistakes, and that some stories had been reinstated. It also revealed that it was receiving 1,000 take-down requests a day.

If successful, a ‘right to be forgotten’ request will lead to the link to a web page being removed under certain search terms.

In September last year, Press Gazette revealed that more than 80 national press stories had been subject to ‘right to be forgotten’ removals.

The BBC publishes a list – up to date as far as May this year – of its articles that have been affected. They total nearly 200 between May 2014 and May 2015.