FIFA sues Google for defamation over reputational damage

FIFA has taken legal action against Google for what the world governing body of soccer claims is defamation. Taking the US company to court in Switzerland, the case stems from specific Google search results, per a report from Swiss broadcaster SRF. FIFA hopes a successful ruling against Google will remove the website in question from its search results.

One of the search results for FIFA leads to a website allegedly containing personal and professional attacks on FIFA and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. FIFA argues these claims are untrue and damaging. Therefore, defamation comes into play.

In response, Google has argued against this lawsuit. The American tech company has brought up several defenses against FIFA’s claims. For example, Google does not have any say regarding what the website says. Furthermore, it is not Google who is saying those allegedly damaging and untruthful details. Additionally, this search result is hard to view by Google’s standards. The company stated this defamatory website does not appear in the first 10 pages of Google when searching for “FIFA.”

According to Swiss news outlet SRF, FIFA could have taken Google to court anywhere. However, Switzerland has stricter defamation laws. Defamation does not have to come from those who say or spread hurtful misinformation. It can be anyone or anything that aids the spread. In this case, FIFA is arguing that it’s Google for listing this website in its search index.

FIFA calls criticism on Google defamation, so which website is the culprit?

We were curious about which website was causing FIFA concern. However, after 10 to 15 minutes of searching, we came up empty. Nothing harmless showed up. In fact, the website seems so obscure that we wonder why it’s causing FIFA so much consternation After all, if people can’t find the website in question, why should FIFA care so much?

Of all the organizations, particularly in soccer, FIFA has been the subject of criticism and controversy. Many websites will often condemn FIFA, and the organization owned up to seeing some of it. A lawyer for FIFA told SRF that the governing body has no objection to critical media reports. Yet, it argues the ones from this website on Google are strictly untrue. Therefore, it wants this taken down as one of Google’s results.

The challenge for Google is that this case with FIFA could set major precedence for future cases. If FIFA manages to win this defamation case and it successfully removes a website from FIFA’s search rankings, other companies will have the ability to look at Google as a means of defamation. That includes FIFA, which, as it says, has rampant critics across the globe. That goes against Google’s aim of having as many options available for different searches.

There is no timetable currently for a verdict in this case as the lawsuit only started recently. FIFA cannot overtly lose in this case, as it is just trying to keep a polished name. However, the consequences for Google are massive, and this is a case to keep an eye on over the coming weeks and months.

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