Australia’s top court finds Google not liable for defamation

SYDNEY, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Australia’s highest court overturned on Wednesday a ruling that had found Google engaged in defamation by supplying a link to a contested newspaper article, throwing the spotlight again on how online libel cases are handled in the country.

The seven-judge panel of the High Court of Australia voted 5-2 to throw out an earlier finding that the Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) unit played a part in publishing the disputed article by acting as a “library” housing it, saying the…