Swiss court convicts man for ‘liking’ defamatory Facebook

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/30/swiss-court-convicts-man-liking-defamatory-facebook-post-landmark/

>A man who ‘liked’ a Facebook post accusing another man of anti-Semitism and racism has been convicted of defamation in a landmark ruling by a Swiss judge.

>In the first case of its kind in Switzerland, the 45-year-old unnamed defendant from Zurich was found guilty after he ‘liked’ several posts on Facebook accusing Erwin Kessler, the president of an animal rights group, of racism and anti-Semitism.

>The posts came about during discussions on Facebook over which animal welfare groups should be allowed to take part in a large vegan street festival in Switzerland, Veganmania Schweiz.

>Posts describing Mr Kessler as racist, anti-Semitic or fascist, and his organisation as a neo-Nazi association, were liked by a number of people, including the defendant.

>Mr Kessler then brought a case against the defendant, arguing that by ‘liking' the posts the man spread their content by making them visible to a larger number of people, and that he acted with intent to harm and without any justifiable cause.

>Zurich court judge Catherine Gerwig said at the trial on Monday said that ‘liking’ the posts was “spreading a value judgement”, reported newspaper the Tages Anzeiger.

>She said that a 'like' is associated with a positive, meaning he clearly supported the posts' content. The court ruled that the defendant couldn’t prove that the statements about Mr Kessler were true or that he had "serious reasons" to believe them to be so.

>In 1998, Mr Kessler was in fact convicted of racial discrimination in relation to his efforts to prevent the lifting of a ban on shechita, a Jewish religious method of slaughtering animals for food in order to produce kosher meat.

>However, the court ruled that it does not mean he can be accused of racism without current proof some 20 years later, and the defendant was handed a suspended fine.

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