For the first time: Liability of Meta for hate page on Instagram in Austria

The later plaintiff, an airline pilot, was severely disparaged by statements made by his brother, who had set up a hate page against him on Instagram. The brother, as the media owner of the Insta page, has already been ordered by a court to refrain from making certain allegations about the plaintiff. However, Meta Platforms as the social media operator refused to deactivate the page. The plaintiff therefore applied for an injunction against the defendant pursuant to Section 549 ZPO in order to finally stop the dissemination of defamatory content. The defendant rejected the request to delete the content as it did not violate its guidelines. The I. and II. Instance dismissed the action completely. The plaintiff was successful in the appeal proceedings before the Supreme Court (OGH).

The Supreme Court partially upheld the plaintiff's appeal and confirmed the injunction order on certain points. The defendant was obliged to refrain from spreading certain defamatory allegations about the plaintiff. The requirements for a cease and desist order pursuant to Section 549 ZPO were deemed to be met, as the statements impaired the plaintiff's human dignity. The defendant as host provider is responsible under Austrian law, even if it is based in Ireland. The decision emphasizes that the E-Commerce Directive does not provide for a geographical limitation of injunctions. A time limit on the injunction was not considered necessary.
Eurolawyer^® represented the plaintiff (OGH 30.08.2023, 6 Ob 166/22p).