CIO

Justice minister Andrew Little welcomes Google’s ‘change of heart’

Google, in turn, suspends Google Trends emails about searches trending in New Zealand
Justice Minister Andrew Little

Justice Minister Andrew Little

Work on how suppression orders will be upheld in the digital age will continue

Justice minister Andrew Little

Justice Minister Andrew Little has welcomed Google’s suspension of a system which published information subject to a suppression order in a high profile murder case.

“Today, Google reached out with an apology and acknowledgement that fair trial rights need to be protected,” says Little, in a statement.

“Google have offered to immediately suspend the part of the system that led to suppressed information being breached. I welcome this responsible approach by Google."

“Work on how suppression orders will be upheld in the digital age will continue. I look forward to constructive engagement with Google and other multinational tech corporations on long-term solutions,” he adds.

Ross Young, senior manager, public policy and government affairs at Google, says in light of the concerns expressed by Little early this week, the technology firm has also suspended Google Trends emails about searches trending in New Zealand. 

“This means that people will no longer receive emails on any trending searches for New Zealand and provides even further assurance against any recurrence,” of this issue, says Young.

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