Suchmaschinen als Rundfunk

Search engines such as Google are essential for using the Internet. Nevertheless, providers of search engines must be aware of certain liability risks, which, for example, are outlined in the rulings by the European Court of Justice (on “the right to be forgotten”) and the German Federal Court of Justice (on the “autocomplete” function). First, the author examines how running a search engine is protected by fundamental rights, in particular the freedom of broadcasting, and how search engines can form opinions. Could content-related standards be established? Should search engines be unbiased? In a next step, the author considers civil liability for search results (links, snippets, suggestions etc.), especially taking the freedom of broadcasting into account, according to which extensive civil liability is prohibited.