SoylentNews

canopic jug [soylentnews.org] writes:

The European Court of Human Rights published a preliminary judgement in the case Høiness v. Norway, deciding that Internet (Web) forums are not liable for what visitors write [coe.int] (warning for PDF). This means that European web sites are currently under no obligation to delete visitor postings even if someone else visiting the forum dislikes what is written.

The domestic courts’ refusal to impose liability on an Internet forum for anonymously posted comments was not in breach of Article 8

In today’s Chamber judgment¹in the case of Høiness v. Norway (application no. 43624/14) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:

no violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the domestic courts’ refusal to impose civil liability on an Internet forum host after vulgar comments about Ms Høiness had been posted on the forum.

The Court found in particular that the national courts had acted within their discretion (“margin of appreciation”) when seeking to establish a balance between Ms Høiness’s rights under Article 8 and the opposing right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the news portal and host of the debate forums. Moreover, the domestic court

However, the decision is not yet final and during the next three months any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If the Court recieves such a request and a panel of judges kicks it upwards, then the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final judgment. Otherwise the decision becomes final by default.

Original Submission