A bunch of Jeffrey Epstein survivors filed a category motion lawsuit in opposition to the Department of Justice and Google on Thursday over the release of victim-identifying information in recordsdata associated to the late convicted intercourse offender.
The criticism, filed in Northern District of California federal court docket, alleges the paperwork the DOJ launched in late 2025 and early 2026 “outed approximately 100 survivors” and printed “their private information and identifying them to the world.”
The lawsuit comes more than a month after attorneys representing Epstein survivors despatched a letter to the DOJ requesting the removing of hundreds of thousands of Epstein-related paperwork as a result of victims’ information was included –– noting hundreds of redaction errors.
The Justice Department stated in a response on the time that it had eliminated all of the paperwork flagged with errors and “the Department is continuing to process any new requests and to run its own searches to identify any other documents that may require further redaction.”
The criticism filed Thursday claims that even after the federal government acknowledged the disclosure and recordsdata have been eliminated, “online entities like Google continuously republish it, refusing victim’s pleas to take it down.”
“Survivors now face renewed trauma. Strangers call them, email them, threaten their physical safety and accuse them of conspiring with Epstein when they are in reality, Epstein’s victims,” the criticism learn.
Google might take away or de-index particular content material from search outcomes and caches, the go well with stated, however refused to make use of such instruments, displaying “reckless” conduct and “wonton disregard for the wellbeing” of the survivors.
NCS has reached out to the Justice Department and Google for remark.
The DOJ is required to release information associated to Epstein and to redact victims’ names and private information beneath the 2025 Epstein Files Transparency Act, however the criticism alleges the division failed to make sure private information was redacted beneath the strain to behave rapidly.
“The United States, acting through the DOJ, made a deliberate policy choice to prioritize rapid, large-volume disclosure over protection of Epstein survivors’ privacy,” the criticism states.
A Department of Justice spokesperson beforehand advised NCS that it takes sufferer safety “very seriously” and has redacted hundreds of victims’ names within the printed information, with 500 reviewers trying on the recordsdata “for this very reason.”
“When a victim’s name is alleged to be unredacted, our team is working around the clock to fix the issue and republish appropriately redacted pages as soon as possible,” the division stated. “To date, 0.1% of released pages have been found to have victim identifying information unredacted.”