ECtHR confirms ruling that news sites are liable for comments

The fact that news sites are liable for reactions from readers does not conflict with the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press. This was decided by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday.

The Grand Chamber thus confirms an earlier judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. Fifteen judges from the Grand Chamber voted that there was no violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, two of them saying there was. Article 10 of the ECHR regulates the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The Grand Chamber considered that the comments at issue were of an extreme nature and that the site in question had not taken adequate steps to quickly remove the comments. Comments could be posted anonymously. The ECtHR also points out that these were reactions to an article from a commercial news site.

The website in question was the Estonian news site Delfi. Threats were made in comments to an article about changes to shipping routes by a shipping company, after which the shipowner demanded that the comments be removed. The site did not respond sufficiently, after which the company demanded compensation from Delfi, due to reputational damage. He received compensation of EUR 320, which was also considered reasonable by the ECtHR.