FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
SIIA CONTACT: Sharon Burk, (202) 789-4480

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 24, 2019) – The Software & Information Industry Association, the principal association for the software, information, and digital content industries, applauds the September 24, 2019 European Court of Justice Ruling, which holds that the “operator of a search engine is not required to carry out a de-referencing on all versions of its search engine.” In practice, this means that search engines will not have to delist search results in non-EU domains, although search engines are still required to discourage EU citizens from accessing those domains. 

SIIA Senior Vice President for Global Public Policy, Carl Schonander, praised the ruling stating:

“SIIA appreciates the European Court of Justice preventing the extraterritorial application of EU law.  SIIA still opposes the right-to-be-forgotten as constituted in the EU because it privileges privacy over free speech in an unbalanced way.  One result is that it makes it more difficult to provide accurate know-your-customer, anti-money laundering, and other societally useful services.  Nonetheless, the court decision is commendable because it limits the reach of the right to be forgotten to EU domains.        

About SIIA:
SIIA is an umbrella association that represents constituencies from technology, data and media companies. Through in-person and online business development opportunities, peer networking, corporate education, intellectual property protection and government relations, SIIA provides a network of resources for its 800+ member companies that drive innovation and growth. For more information, visit www.siia.net.

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