Tech Crunch reports:
There’s troubling news in Japan today, after Google was told to delete two critical customer reviews from its Google Maps service. Today’s decision is based on a defamation suit from the clinic, a key part of which included an affidavit from the doctor who interacted with the anonymous reviewers and denied their claims. The court ruled that Google not only removes the content in Japan, but across the entire globe too. In a statement provided to TechCrunch, Google said it is “considering our options” — that could very well include an appeal of the ruling.
“While we provide tools that allow business owners to respond to reviews, and we take down posts that violate our policies, we believe online reviews are a critical tool for people to give and read direct feedback about businesses,” the company added.
Removal of any kind of public content is troubling, particularly when the process behind it appears to be little more than an on-record denial. If feedback regarding medical professionals — who are tasked with saving lives and healing — is that easily scrubbed from the web, then there is valid concern that this ruling will enable businesses or individuals on the wrong end of legitimate negatively reviews to have them scrubbed from the web.