Google gets sued by former German president’s wife

Wulff, in her defamation lawsuit against Google, claimed that when the name Bettina Wulff is typed into Google’s search engine, it suggested search terms included the words “prostitute” and “red light district”.

Google says this is due to what users are already searching for based on its search algorithms, but this explanation is not enough to satisfy Wulff. She is launching a defamation case against the search giant. While Google’s defence will likely centre on the fact that it only hosting the search terms entered by users, and not, therefore, deliberately defaming her, a previous case where suggested search terms linked a man with crimes he did not commit forced Google to disable the autocomplete function for that name.

Wulff says she has never worked as a prostitute and plans to release a book that clears up the matter. Reports suggest that the rumours were started in order to affect her husband’s political career. He resigned from the presidency earlier this year over allegations of corruption.