A user on Facebook entered a Like for a defamatory post, commented on it and shared it. The District Court of Zurich sentenced him to a conditional fine of CHF 4,000.00 for multiple defamations (of character), with a probationary period of two years. The ruling is not yet final.
The defendant described an animal rights activist and an association on Facebook as ‘racists’, ‘anti-Semites’ and ‘fascists’. In addition, the defendant also commented on articles by third parties that expressed similar opinions and reacted to these articles with a ‘Like’. In its deliberations, the Zurich District Court held that by pressing the ‘Like’ button, the defendant took ownership of the defamatory statements. In order to refute these accusations, the defendant would have had to prove current racist or anti-Semitic behaviour by the animal rights activist, but he did not succeed.