Wife of former German Prez files ‘defamation lawsuit’ against Google over ‘prostitute’ search result

Bettina Wulff, the wife of the former German President Christian Wulff, has sued web giant Google in a legal action to stop rumours about her private life.

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".

Wulff has denied that she has ever worked as a prostitute.

However, Google said that the auto-generated text reflects what others are already searching for online, the BBC reports.

Wulff has spent over two years fighting allegations she was once employed as an escort, a German newspaper noted.

"Her lawyers have already issued 34 successful cease-and-desist orders, including one against a prominent German television personality this weekend," the paper said.

The same paper said a defamation suit was launched against Google last week.

Head of PR for Google Germany, Kay Oberbeck, said the site's search terms were "algorithmically generated" and "include the popularity of the entered search terms".

"All terms that appear have been previously entered by Google users," he added in a statement.

ALSO READ

After lull, highway projects see aggressive bid offers

Govt aims to bring down CAD to 2.5% by 12th Plan-end, says Montek

Raghuram Rajan not in favour of sovereign bond to finance CAD

Airfares: Travel agents to keep shutters down on Tuesday