A Swiss appeal court has found that automatically-generated suggested search terms are not statements made by the search engine. Thus, Google has no legal liability for suggested search terms that have negative imputations.

Robert Kennedy College had argued that the suggested term “Robert Kennedy College scam” implied that the college was involved in fraudulent activity.  Google responded that the terms displayed by Google Suggest were mere search suggestions rather than allegations by it, and that the ordinary Internet user was fully aware of this fact.

The courts at first instance and on appeal agreed with Google.

According to the Jura Cantonal Court, it is inappropriate to impose on search engine operators the same responsibility as is imposed on editors of traditional media without the risk of making internet access much more expensive or even impossible. The court also concluded that Google had no obligation to eliminate a specific search suggestion after being informed by the aggrieved party, since it would result in the type of censorship prohibited by Article 17(2) of the Constitution.

For an excellent account of the case, and a comparison of it with other European decisions on this issue, see the Wenger Plattner report authored by Roland Mathys and Christoph Zogg.