EIT: Virolaisen nettiuutispalstan kommenttiosuudessa olleista kirjoituksista määrätyt sakot eivät loukanneet sananvapautta

11.10.2013 | Oikeusuutiset

Markku Fredman

EIT antoi eilen periaatteellisesti merkittävän tuomion asiassa, jossa valittajana oli nettiuutispalstaa ylläpitävä yhtiö. Yhtiö oli tuomittu 320 euron sakkoihin sen vuoksi, että palstan keskusteluosiossa anonyyminä esiintyneet henkliöt olivat kirjoittaneet keskusteluosioon loukkaavia, uhkaavia ja häpäiseviä viestejä.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

The case concerned the liability of an Internet news portal for offensive comments that were posted by readers below one of its online news articles. The portal complained that being held liable for the comments of its readers breached its right to freedom of expression.

The Court held that the finding of liability by the Estonian courts was a justified and proportionate restriction on the portal’s right to freedom of expression, in particular, because: the comments were highly offensive; the portal failed to prevent them from becoming public, profited from their existence, but allowed their authors to remain anonymous; and, the fine imposed by the Estonian courts was not excessive.

Of particular interest was the Court’s finding on the issue of the lawfulness of the interference with the portal’s right to freedom of expression. Though the portal had argued that an EU Directive on Electronic Commerce, as transposed into Estonian law, had made it exempt from liability, the Court found that it was for national courts to resolve issues of interpretation of domestic law, and therefore did not address the issue under EU law.

Koko lehdistötiedote, jossa myös linkki koko tuomioon, löytyy täältä: Press release

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