SYDNEY: Australia’s highest court has ruled on Wednesday that  Google is not a publisher of the websites it links to in search results, finding search engine hyperlinks do not amount to publication.

In a 5-2 decision, the High Court of Australia's seven-judge panel overturned an earlier ruling that the website had an active involvement in publishing the disputed piece by serving as a "library" for it.

Where responsibility for internet defamation lies in Australia has long been a subject of debate, but the ruling has just added to the complexity. Large platforms like Google and Facebook, which is owned by Meta Platforms, have been under investigation for years in order to determine whether they should be held accountable for libel. 

According to the ruling that was released, the case originated from a 2004 article that claimed a criminal defence attorney had broken ethical boundaries and became a "confidant" of criminals. According to the ruling, the lawyer, George Defteros, discovered a connection to the item in a 2016 Google search of his name and requested that Google remove it after it had been viewed by 150 people.

In a state court proceeding, Defteros sued Google, which the court ruled to be a publisher and ordered to pay him A$40,000 ($28,056). Google filed an appeal against the ruling, which resulted in Wednesday's decision. In their decision on Wednesday, two of the panel's judges stated that "The Underworld article was not created by any employee or agent of the appellant," which is Google.

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