Google Autocomplete ties Australian health researcher to false blackmail accusations

Google was accused of linking to false allegations accusing an Australian health researcher of blackmail, computer hacking, fraud, and stalking, prompting her to sue Google for defamation.

The false accusations stemmed from links to US-based website Ripoff Report, which had published unsubstantiated allegations against Dr. Janice Duffy. 

Google's Autocomplete algorithm picked up the allegations and began suggesting them as search terms, effectively propagating the false information.

Dr. Duffy requested that Google remove the defamatory links in September 2009, but the company refused, prompting Duffy to sue Google. Ripoff Report had refused to remove the allegations.

South Australia's Supreme Court found the search engine company guilty of publishing defamatory imputations about Duffy 'to a substantial number of people.'

However, defamatory content continued to appear in Google's Autocomplete system when Dr Duffy's name was typed into Google.