Richard (Raziel) Davidoff & Ors v Google LLC

Richard (Raziel) Davidoff & Ors v Google LLC

The claimants failed to demonstrate that Google LLC was sufficiently 'mixed up' in the alleged wrongdoing to justify a Norwich Pharmacal order. The provision of Gmail addresses used to register Trustpilot accounts did not amount to facilitation of the alleged wrongdoing (the posting of the reviews), but merely made Google a witness to an anterior event. The claimants also failed to demonstrate a real prospect of success in defamation claims due to lack of evidence of serious harm or financial loss. Only the company claimants had a potentially arguable malicious falsehood claim in relation to certain reviews, but this was insufficient to satisfy the requirement that Google be mixed up in...

Parties
Claimant: Richard (Raziel) Davidoff; Claimant: Hanni (Hannah) Davidoff; Claimant: Tamara Davidoff; Claimant: Debby Davidoff; Claimant: ABC Block Management Limited; Claimant: ABC Hendon Limited; Defendant: Google LLC
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
11 October 2024
Procedural Posture
Norwich Pharmacal Application (civil) / Judgment on Application
Outcome
Application refused
Legal Topics
Norwich Pharmacal Orders, Defamation, Malicious Falsehood, Online Anonymity, Disclosure of Information
Civil Procedure Defamation Tort Norwich Pharmacal Orders Malicious Falsehood Online Anonymity Disclosure of Information

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 5 Authorities cited 38 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 3
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Richard (Raziel) Davidoff

Claimant

Hanni (Hannah) Davidoff

Claimant

Tamara Davidoff

Claimant

Debby Davidoff

Claimant

ABC Block Management Limited

Claimant

ABC Hendon Limited

Claimant

Google LLC

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Norwich Pharmacal Application (civil) / Judgment on Application

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the claimants are entitled to Norwich Pharmacal relief against Google LLC to identify the authors of allegedly defamatory Trustpilot reviews
  2. 2 Whether the claimants have demonstrated an arguable wrong (defamation or malicious falsehood) with a real prospect of success
  3. 3 Whether Google LLC is 'mixed up' in the alleged wrongdoing for the purposes of Norwich Pharmacal jurisdiction

Ratio Decidendi

The claimants failed to demonstrate that Google LLC was sufficiently 'mixed up' in the alleged wrongdoing to justify a Norwich Pharmacal order. The provision of Gmail addresses used to register Trustpilot accounts did not amount to facilitation of the alleged wrongdoing (the posting of the reviews), but merely made Google a witness to an anterior event. The claimants also failed to demonstrate a real prospect of success in defamation claims due to lack of evidence of serious harm or financial loss. Only the company claimants had a potentially arguable malicious falsehood claim in relation to certain reviews, but this was insufficient to satisfy the requirement that Google be mixed up in...

Court Disposition

Application refused