The European Court of Justice’s “Right to be Forgotten” ruling upsets a foundational principle regarding openness of the Internet – it has always been viewed as a platform to express one’s opinion and access information. This ruling converts websites from intermediaries into censors, forcing them to balance Europeans’ right to information against individuals’ demands to suppress lawfully published information about them.
The European court gave little practical guidance on how search services should strike this balance. So Google, the first Internet business to be targeted by the ruling, created a panel of legal, policy, and technological experts to address the challenge.