Court rules online news sites are not liable for offensive readers’ comments
By Dirk Voorhoof and Eva LievensIn an important test case the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that news website owners cannot be held responsible for comments posted by readers as long as they are lawful. Hate speech and inciting violence are illegal, insults and vulgar remarks are not.
The ECtHR recently decided that a self-regulatory body (Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete, MTE) and an Internet news portal (Index.hu Zrt) were not liable for the offensive comments posted by their readers on their respective websites. Anonymous users of MTE and Index.hu Zrt had posted vulgar and offensive online comments, following…
