Court of Appeals Confirmed Ruling that Recognized Right to be Forgotten

On August 10, 2020, Division H of the Court of Appeals in Civil matters confirmed the District Court’s decision that recognized the right to be forgotten in the context of results made available by search engines that affected the plaintiff’s rights.

The Court of Appeals highlighted the absence of a specific statute ruling on the right to be forgotten, which serves as a mechanism to protect the right to honor and privacy, both recognized as fundamental rights in the Argentine Constitution.

In line with the above, the Court of Appeals noted that the right to be forgotten must be construed restrictively as prior censorship is not permitted notwithstanding subsequent responsibilities. Based on this, the Court agreed with the approach taken by the District Court when distinguishing two situations that deserve different treatment in terms of application of the right to be forgotten:

a) In the case of the contents related to the criminal investigation where the plaintiff was not the only person involved, the Court of Appeals considered that they involve information of public interest that should not be removed from search engines.

b) In the case of the remaining content that reproduces scenes of discussions and quarrels between the plaintiff and another person linked to the case that took place 24 years ago, the Court of Appeals considered that they are no longer relevant and at the same time affect the honor of the plaintiff. In this regard, the Court invoked the Court of Justice of the European Union judgement in Costeja case (Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), Mario Costeja González). It was also stressed that if Argentine Law recognizes the right to be forgotten in the context of credit matters, there should be no obstacle to granting such right when dealing with content made available by a search engine that affects plaintiff’s fundamental rights.