Federal Court Sides With Google Over Defamation Lawsuit
Google isn't responsible for the “defamation” of a Washington, D.C., businesswoman who sued the company over a critical blog post published by her former client, a federal court ruled Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled…
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against Dawn Bennett, owner of DJ Bennett, a high-end sports apparel retailer. According to court filings, Bennett sued Google in 2016 for failing to remove a post written by Scott Pierson, founder of The Executive SEO Agency, whom Bennett hired to provide search engine optimization services for $20,000 in 2013. Court documents show there was an issue with the fifth and final payment for Pierson, and he allegedly threatened Bennett, saying: “I know things. I can do things, and I will shut down your website.” Pierson then published a blog post titled, “DJ Bennett-think-twice-bad business ethics,” on Google. Filings said Bennett told Pierson to remove the post, and when he refused, her attorney contacted Google, asking it to remove the post because it violated Google’s guidelines for appropriate blog material. Friday’s decision upheld a previous trial judge ruling, concluding the Communications Decency Act “immunized” Google from liability for publication of third-party content. If “Bennett takes issue with Pierson’s post, her legal remedy is against Pierson himself as the content provider, not against Google as the publisher,” the D.C. Circuit ruled, concluding Google held no editorial discretion over the post. Bennett didn't comment Monday.