Montreal/IBNS: A Quebec Superior Court judge directed Google to pay $500,000 to a Montreal man for restoring a link to an online post falsely accusing him of being a pedophile.

The derogatory post was first found by the man in 2007 when he used Google to search his name.

The man's identity is protected by a publication ban.

Although the man successfully removed the link from search results that appeared on Google's Canadian site, the company later restored a link.
The man, reportedly being a prominent businessman, argued the defamatory post damaged his career and personal relationships.

Headquartered in California, Google argued that Quebec defamation law was not applicable to the case and U.S. law had no obligation to remove the link.

Late last monthIt Quebec Superior Court Judge Azimuddin Hussain ruled that Quebec law does apply and although Google is not required to monitor the links to its search engine, it must act when it is informed that it is enabling access to illicit content.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)