New Zealand scolds Google for violating court order by naming man accused of killing British backpacker Grace Millane
- An Auckland court granted the man interim name suppression this month but Google revealed his identity in an email to subscribers
- The case generated intense interest in New Zealand and Britain, where some media outlets have argued the court order does not apply to them
New Zealand warned Google to “take responsibility” for its news content on Wednesday, after the internet giant broke a court order suppressing the name of a man charged with murdering a British backpacker.
An Auckland court granted the man interim name suppression this month but Google revealed his identity in an email to subscribers of its “what’s trending in New Zealand?” service.
Justice Minister Andrew Little said the breach was unacceptable and he had made his views known to Google executives at a meeting in parliament on Tuesday night.
While Google has argued the breach was inadvertent and it was unaware of the court order when the automatically generated email went out, Little said that was not good enough.
“I put the ball back in their court,” he told commercial radio on Wednesday. “If they choose to set up their algorithms and distribute news, they’ve got to take responsibility for that.”
The case concerns the murder of British tourist Grace Millane, 22, whose body was found earlier this month just outside Auckland, resulting in a 26-year-old man being arrested and charged.