Peruvian court orders top newspaper to delete three articles

Peru's Constitutional Court has mandated El Comercio, the country's leading newspaper, to remove three articles from its website. The court ruled that the publications violated a citizen's right to be forgotten, as well as her rights to honor and good reputation. The decision stems from a habeas data lawsuit filed in 2020 by Lorena Yadira Bellina Schrader. She argued that three news items published in October 2014, which linked her to a corruption network led by businessman Rodolfo Orellana, were damaging. Schrader's claim was strengthened by a final congressional report in December 2015, which did not assign any criminal, civil, or administrative responsibility to her. The Constitutional Court, in a majority decision, determined that maintaining these articles online over a decade after the events lacked public interest and caused harm to Schrader. The court ordered the removal of the information, stating that the publication infringed upon her rights. The ruling acknowledged a conflict between Schrader's rights and the media's rights to freedom of expression and information. However, the majority prioritized Schrader's rights, ordering the deletion of the content and condemning El Comercio to pay costs. Some legal experts noted that a minority of judges suggested updating the articles rather than removing them, arguing for a less restrictive approach to freedom of information.

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For the collegiate body, more than a decade after the events occurred, keeping the three news items published lacks public interest and causes harm to the beneficiary, which is why it orders the defendant to suppress the disseminated information.