Media Defence Logo

CLOSE

Liability for Comments Posted by Online Readers

Liability for Comments Posted by Online Readers

MLDI has led a coalition of 69 news organisations in urging the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights to formally review a judgment by one of the court’s lower chambers in a case concerning the extent to which news websites can be held liable for comments left by users.

In the case of Delfi v. Estonia, the First Section of the Court held that one of Estonia’s main news websites, Delfi, was liable for defamatory comments from its users despite the fact that Delfi had taken down the comments as soon as they had been notified of them.

This undermines established standards under other legal systems, including other EU law, and may result in websites closing down comments sections of their websites or proactively removing any comments they think might be offensive. Either option would limit free speech online and prevent users from voicing their concerns on topical news items (in the Estonian case, the comments concerned a ferry company that had broken up winter roads over the ice).

Lawyers for Delfi have formally requested that the judgment be referred to the Court’s Grand Chamber. MLDI has written to the Court in support of the request, as part of a coalition including Google, Forbes, News Corp., Thomson Reuters, the New York Times, Bloomberg News, Guardian News and Media, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, Conde Nast, the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, the European Publishers Council, Greenpeace, the Center for Democracy and Technology, ARTICLE 19 and national media outlets and journalists associations from across Europe.

 

Attached files:
PDF icon Delfi Support Letter.pdf

Recent News

Mamunur Rashid Nomani charged with violating Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act

Journalist Mamunur Rashid Nomani, editor of the local online news portal Barishal Khobor, has been charged with violating Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act (DSA), following an accusation claiming that he secretly filmed the mayor of Barisal and his family. Nomani rejects this, alleging instead that he and two of his acquaintances – Kamrul Mridha, working for […]

Read

Media Defence extends partnership with three organisations in sub-Saharan Africa

As part of Media Defence’s project Empowering Women in Digital Rights Advocacy, we are building a strong legal defence network in sub-Saharan Africa. To achieve this goal, we are providing financial assistance to organisations to establish legal aid units or media defence centres. We are excited to announce that, as part of this project, we are extending […]

Read

15 Years of Impact: Internet Shutdowns

This year marks Media Defence’s 15th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, we will be taking a look at the ways in which freedom of expression has been threatened around the world, and how we have sought to protect it. The internet has become an essential part of modern life. It has transformed the way we […]

Read