A court has ruled that a Hong Kong tycoon can sue Google over its autocomplete results suggesting he has links to organized crime.

Yeung filed the lawsuit after Google refused to remove autocomplete suggestions such as "triad," as organized crime gangs are known in China, which popped up with searches on his name.

Judge Marlene Ng disagreed with Google's lawyers, who argued Yeung was better off asking the websites where the defamatory information was published to remove it. She said Google had the ability to censor material.