Olympic Athlete's Mother Sues Google

The mother of a US Olympic speed skater hasThe Age appears to be running the original article, written by George Diaz in 2006.

However, these publications do not appear to be in Ms. Davis’s crosshairs, perhaps because they don’t appear as the number one search result when querying for information about her. Instead, the top spot belongs to now deceased Blogspot blogger Sean Healy, on a sports blog titled UnknownColumn. More “mainstream” reports about the allegations do not appear.

In the suit, Davis demands Google remove a blog express their doubt about the likely success of the suit as there are a number of things in Google’s favor. First, Google enjoys the protection of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online service providers from liability for third party content.

Secondly, defamation cases have to prove what was said was false and that the author knowingly published false information. Even if the blogger in question wasn’t deceased, the alleged false statements attributed to Davis were published first by prominent news organizations, and these prior publications are the likely sources. As for whether Davis is “a petulant, ill-willed, flame war-starting psycho bitch,” matters of opinion are protected speech, which is probably why these words aren’t mentioned in the lawsuit.

Thirdly, in the case of who now owns and is ultimately liable for content on the UnknownColumn blog, it isn’t Google. The new owner by default is either Healy’s next of kin or whomever Healy may have bequeathed it to. Whoever that is hasn’t shown much interest as the blog hasn’t been updated since before Healy’s death. 

Lastly, in the state of Illinois, where the suit was filed, defamation and libel claims are to be made