Courts in EU countries can tell Facebook to remove comments declared illegal, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday. The ruling said that the court’s demand is applicable worldwide.
Facebook Comment About Politicians Leads to Ruling
Europe’s top court issued the ruling in the case of an Austrian politician. Eva Glawisching-Piesczek asked for the removal of a comment declared to be defamatory.
In a statement, the ECJ said:
EU law does not preclude a host provider such as Facebook from being ordered to remove identical and, in certain circumstances, equivalent comments previously declared to be illegal.
Furthermore, the statement added:
EU law does not preclude such an injunction from producing effects worldwide, within the framework of the relevant international law which it is for Member States to take into account.
The full judgment is also available online.
Charlotte:
This could either have major ramifications for FB and their liability/accountability, or it could remain under-exploited and go nowhere at all.