The New Zealand government admonished Google on Friday for disclosing the identity of a man charged with killing a female British backpacker, highlighting the tension that arises when local courts order the suppression of information that can be easily found online.
Google executives from the United States and Britain are set to travel to New Zealand to meet with Andrew Little, the justice minister, on Tuesday. Mr. Little is demanding that the company change its algorithms to ensure that material published outside New Zealand that violates local court suppression orders is not visible in the country.
The dispute was prompted by the first court appearance, on Monday, of a 26-year-old man accused of killing Grace Millane, the backpacker, who was visiting Auckland. She vanished the day before her 22d birthday after a night out with the man; her body was found a week later on the city’s western edge.
While Ms. Millane was missing, her family appealed to the public via the media for information about what might have happened to her. The case captured more attention around the world than any other killing in New Zealand in recent years and it provoked a conversation about violence against women.
The man’s name has been suppressed in New Zealand under a legal provision often invoked by defendants in the country that is meant to guarantee fair trials, and it was not released by local reporters.
But several British media outlets published it, and on Thursday Google included the man’s name in the subject line of an email sent to people in New Zealand who subscribe to a service that local topics that trending online.
Google said in a statement to New Zealand news outlets that it “didn’t receive an order to take action” on the case.
“When we receive valid court orders, including suppression orders, we review and respond appropriately,” the statement said, adding that Google respected New Zealand’s laws.
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Source: New Zealand Rebukes Google for Airing Name of Backpacker’s Accused Killer – The New York Times