French court orders Google to remove private sex orgy images

Google Inc. has been ordered by a French court to remove from its search engine private images of an international race car official who was the subject of a sexual scandal.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the case involved Max Mosley, who once upon a time ran the Formula One racing circuit.

Josley sued Google to get the company to filter images of him along with any links from its search results.

The Tribunal de Grande Instance ruled that Google must remove nine images.

The case has been closely watched because of the issues raised about freedom of speech and privacy as well as how much authority various governments have over the Internet.

“This decision should worry those who champion the cause of freedom of expression on the Internet,” said Daphne Keller, Google’s associate general counsel, in a statement.

According to the Journal, the nine photos came from a “sex orgy that was secretly filmed in 2008.”

The images had been published by British Newspapers of Mosley engaged in “sadomasochistic role-play with women.” British and French courts have ruled previously that their publication was an invasion of Mosley’s privacy.

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