Zeenews Bureau
Milan, June 23: Four Google executives will face trial in Milan criminal court on Tuesday. All of them have been charged with defamation and failure to exercise control over personal data.
The case came up against Google after a video was posted on Google video which showed a boy with Down’s syndrome being bullied by his classmates.
The video drew criticism following which Google removed it from within 24 hours.
The executives have been charged under the same Italian law that regulates newspapers and news channels. If convicted they face a maximum punishment of 36 months.
Google in its defence is referring to the European Union legislation which states that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not responsible for monitoring the third party content.
However, the Italian prosecutors argued that Google is an internet content provider and not just an internet service provider.
Google executives booked in the case are its global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, chief legal officer David Drummond, former chief financial officer George Reyes and former Google Video European director Arvind Desikan.
The trial is believed to be the first criminal sanction ever pursued against privacy professionals for his company`s actions, and a Google spokesman called the case as "totally wrong".
