London (CNN Business) Europe's top court has imposed new geographic limits on the "right to be forgotten," saying that in most cases it should apply only within the European Union.

Google GOOGL The European Court of Justice decision announced Tuesday is a significant victory for, which had argued for years that it should not be made to scrub search results outside EU borders.

personal information about them be removed from search results. The ruling curtails a right to be forgotten established by the same court in 2014, which allows EU citizens to request that links containingpersonal information about them be removed from search results.

France's privacy regulator had sought to extend the right beyond EU borders, a position opposed by media outlets, free speech advocates and tech companies such as Google, which tend to resist censorship.

The court acknowledged Tuesday that other countries do not recognize the right to be forgotten, adding that protection of personal data is not an absolute right and must be balanced against other freedoms.

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