Google Poised To Prevail In Battle Over 'Right To Be Forgotten'

Google appears poised to win a showdown in Europe over whether the so-called “right to be forgotten” requires censorship of results worldwide. On Thursday Maciej Szpunar, an advisor to the highest court in the EU, sided with Google in the fight, arguing that the right to be forgotten should only be enforceable in Europe -- not the entire world. The opinion is non-binding but seen as likely to be followed. The controversial right to be forgotten was created in 2014, when EU judges ruled that Google (and other search engines) must remove links to embarrassing information about Europeans at their request, after weighing their right to privacy against the public interest in the information. The right to be forgotten doesn't exist in the United States, where free speech principles protect the right to publish accurate information.