2021 April 14

Shanthakumar v. WST Media Group Inc., 2021 ONSC 2802

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a defamation action relating to an English translation of an article posted on a Chinese-language website.  The English-language translation “appeared instantaneously when the website visitor click on a Google Translate widget … embedded on the website.”  The Court held that “an online publisher that provides a free widget that allows visitors to generate instantaneous automated translations cannot be said to have ‘published’ the translated text and therefore cannot be held liable for statements contained in such translations.”   The Court also stated that it was not satisfied the widget-translated article was a reliable translation and that it was “rife with grammatical and typographical errors and inconsistencies.”  The Court also noted that a plaintiff may nevertheless advance a claim based on the text of the original article, so long as it is accompanied by an official translation.