WHY Zarate v. Google et al. IS A LANDMARK CASE FOR DIGITAL JUSTICE AND THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN IN NORTH AMERICA

 

🧾 WHY Zarate v. Google et al. IS A LANDMARK CASE FOR DIGITAL JUSTICE AND THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN IN NORTH AMERICA

Prepared by: Robert Paul Yann Savoie Zarate
Date: 5 August 2025
Location: Flathead County, Montana, USA
Case Reference: Zarate v. Google et al., Flathead County District Court, Case No. DV-15-2025-0001090-DQ

🔹 I. Overview

This case is about far more than personal defamation. It represents a historic opportunity to confront the unchecked power of search engines and media conglomerates to control the narrative of a person’s life — even when the accusations are false, outdated, or already discredited in court.

At the center of the case is a simple truth: If media and tech giants are allowed to permanently link innocent people to crimes they did not commit, then no person is ever truly free, even after acquittal, dismissal, or rehabilitation.

🔹 II. Background Facts

• In 2011, Robert Savoie Zarate was charged as part of an RCMP-led operation in Canada (Project Carrefour) for various white-collar crimes.
• All serious charges (fraud, conspiracy, stock manipulation, gangsterism) were dropped.
• He pleaded guilty passport declaration issue — both not involving financial loss or deceit.
• Despite serving his sentence in full, multiple media outlets (TVA, Journal de Montréal, La Presse, etc.) published distorted stories portraying him as a fugitive, mastermind, and fraudster.
• These articles remain online today — easily searchable on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
• As a result, Savoie Zarate has been:
• Denied passports three times (over 8.59 Years of cancellation);
• Re-arrested internationally in Cayman Islands and Nova Scotia based on the same false narrative;
• Denied employment, contracts, and mobility;
• And subjected to constructive exile, despite being legally innocent of any fraud.

🔹 III. Legal Importance

The case raises constitutional and international law questions that courts and legislatures have long ignored:

• ❓ Is it legal to permanently associate someone with crimes they were not convicted of?
• ❓ Can search engines be forced to remove links to defamatory or irrelevant articles?
• ❓ When does free speech become digital persecution?
• ❓ What remedy exists when the media fails to correct itself, and the state relies on misinformation to justify ongoing punishment?

🔹 IV. What This Case Could Change

If successful, Zarate v. Google et al. could:

1. Establish the first American precedent forcing delisting of links when:
• The content is false, outdated, or disproven;
• The person has suffered real and ongoing harm;
• The public interest no longer justifies keeping the result indexed.
2. Open the door to a U.S. version of the Right to Be Forgotten, modeled after the EU’s GDPR protections (Article 17).
3. Clarify liability of media outlets and search engines in publishing or amplifying provably false allegations years after resolution.
4. Protect victims of wrongful accusation from permanent online character assassination.

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🔹 V. Why This Is the Right Case

• Robert Savoie Zarate’s criminal record shows no fraud conviction.
• His passport was revoked prior to conviction, violating due process.
• The defamatory media was published after sentences were served, creating new harm without legal basis.
• He has now taken the fight to civil court in Montana, invoking U.S. constitutional law, defamation law, and privacy principles to stop 15 years of persecution.
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🔹 VI. Call to Action

This case invites legal scholars, privacy advocates, digital rights organizations, and lawmakers to stand behind a critical cause:

That no person should be condemned online for crimes they didn’t commit — especially not forever.

This is the right time. This is the right case. This is the fight for the digital dignity of every person whose name has been buried under lies that were never corrected.