Judge gives internet giants one month to permanently remove defamatory video clip

Arrangements must be made within the next month to permanently remove an internet video clip falsely accusing a student of taxi fare evasion, a High Court judge ruled yesterday.

Mr Justice Micheal Peart made the order in a case brought by Eoin McKeogh, aged 23, a DCU student, against YouTube, Google, Facebook, and a number of websites over the video and accompanying material which wrongly identified Mr McKeogh as a man leaving a taxi without paying the fare in Monkstown, Dublin.

Mr McKeogh sought a mandatory injunction requiring the internet companies to permanently remove the video and other material having previously got a temporary order preventing its republishing.