The company Google achieved this Friday a suspension of the execution of a sentence that forced him to pay 5,000 million pesos to the Mexican lawyer Ulrich Richter Morales, who won a lawsuit for moral damages against the technological giant, in a long judicial controversy that will soon be analyzed by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN).
“We have obtained the suspension of the execution of the sentence”, reported Google through one of its spokespersons. With this, for the moment, the consortium will no longer have to pay the millionaire sum to which it was sentenced. This means that this precautionary measure will be maintained until the Court issues a final decision on the case.
“We confirm that, as part of our defense in the case for moral damages against Google, we have obtained the suspension of the execution of the sentence. We believe in freedom of expression and in the important role that digital platforms play in giving everyone a voice; We trust that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, in adherence to the criteria that it has consistently issued in the matter, will protect said fundamental right and resolve according to law.”
The term to pay the 5,000 million pesos expired this Friday. This is according to a ruling issued by the judge Judith Cova Castillo Head of the Tenth Civil Court of Mexico City. She imposed the sentence against Google in 2022, which was later upheld in the second instance.
Why did Google have to pay a Mexican lawyer?
The litigation for moral damages against Google, undertaken by Ulrich Richter Morales, began in 2015 with a civil lawsuit in which the lawyer claimed that the firm had refused to remove information that insulted him from its Blogger platform.
Seven years later, the Tenth Civil Court of Mexico City sentenced Google to pay 5,000 million pesos (about 278 million dollars at current exchange rates. This is because found the company responsible for affecting the personality and honor of Richter Morales.
That sentence was ratified by the Eighth Civil Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the capital, which coincided with Judge Cova Castillo, because the consortium allowed the disclosure of a blog that links the lawyer to illegal activities, and in which it is even usurped your personality.
This second instance ruling was challenged by both parties, through separate Direct Amparos, before the Twelfth Collegiate Court in Civil Matters of the Mexican capital, although it declined its jurisdiction so that the Supreme Court would resolve the case.
The Supreme Court took up the case
Last February, the country’s highest court agreed to appeal for these protections, given the novelty and importance of the matter. In fact, the Court will analyze, first of all, what is the difference in legal terms between a blog and a search engine, according to the file filed in the First Chamber of the Court, consulted by HIGH LEVEL.
In the same way, in the sentence that the Court must issue soon, it will be determined “what is the content and scope, for legal and juridical effects, of the intermediary concept”, which is used when a person communicates on the internet.
Specifically, the First Chamber of the SCJN will study whether these internet intermediaries are responsible and are obliged to monitor, supervise and even delete and/or eliminate multimedia content that could violate human rights.
The ruling that has so far benefited Ulrich Richter acknowledges that Google allowed the disclosure of the content of a blog in an unjustified way, for which it must pay 5,000 million pesos to compensate the damages caused.
By Surya Palacios
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