Constitutional Rights in the Digital Age - The Conflict between the Right to be Forgotten and the Freedom of Expression: A Critical Analysis from a German Perspective

Constitutions were written in a time where the internet could have not been foreseen. The digital age brings several new issues that the society must address. This thesis deals with the collision of constitutional rights considering the new challenges brought by the internet. The tension between privacy rights and the right to freedom of expression from the legal viewpoint of the Federal Republic of Germany will be the main focus. Should the internet forget? If yes, after what period and under which circumstances? Digital eternity is the current reality and the response by the European Court of Justice in 2014 in its landmark decision Google Spain is the concept named right to be forgotten. This decision gave new obligations to search engines such as removing personal information from its search results in the European Union. Thereafter, national courts of the Member States of the European Union have further developed the right to be forgotten extending its scope beyond search engines as this thesis will show. Questions remain to what extend the right to be forgotten limits the freedom of expression. Constitutional privacy rights are not absolute which calls for a fair approach to balance the collision between the right to be forgotten and the freedom of expression.