GOOGLE & SOCIAL SEARCH ENGINES

GOOGLE has been asked to remove 2.4million web links under the so-called ‘right to be forgotten’.

The web giant has deleted 900,665 links from its search results since the European ruling came into force three years ago – including to news websites and government documents.

This comes amidst Google facing its first ‘right to be forgotten’ legal battle in the English courts against a businessman it accused of attempting “to rewrite history” by using the rule to try and hide articles about his criminal past.

The European Court of Justice ruled in May 2014 that Google must remove links to websites that include content that is “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant”. Removing a link from search engine results makes it very difficult to find online.

Requests have included demands from killers, terrorists, fraudsters and internet trolls who want to hide their criminal pasts.

The court case will be closely watched by convicted criminals and others who wish to hide their past histories.

It involves a businessman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – who was imprisoned for “conspiracy to account falsely” in the 1990s.