A French court is set to hear arguments on Wednesday from an anti-racism group fighting against Google Suggest search results. SOS Racisme and others have brought a lawsuit against Google over its feature that lets search terms for various celebrities, including Rupert Murdoch and Jon Hamm, be associated with the word “jew” through Google Suggest.
Over the weekend, an attorney with SOS Racisme, Patrick Klugman, told the Agence France Presse that Google Suggest has facilitated the “creation of what is probably the largest Jewish file in history.”
“A great many number of users of France’s and the world’s number one search engine are confronted daily with the non-solicited and almost systematic association of the term ‘Jew’ with famous people in the world of politics, media, and business,” the organizations allege.
In September 2011, the French group famously pressured Apple to remove the “Jew or not Jew” app from the iTunes store.
Europe 1, a French television channel, reports that there has been legal precedent in France over similar cases. In 2010, a Frenchman filed a suit because his name was systematiclaly associated with “satanist,” “rapist,” and “convicted.” He won €1 in damages and €5,000 ($6,600) to recover his legal fees. The following year a Lyon company was able to win €50,000 ($66,000) for having its search results associated with a slang term for “cheater.”