{"id":11558,"date":"2017-05-08T13:41:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/austrian-court-rules-facebook-must-delete-hate-speech\/"},"modified":"2017-05-08T13:41:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T21:41:00","slug":"austrian-court-rules-facebook-must-delete-hate-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/austrian-court-rules-facebook-must-delete-hate-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Austrian Court Rules Facebook Must Delete Hate Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laurel Wamsley<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n An Austrian court ruled on Friday that the “hate postings” against an Austrian politician must be deleted from Facebook worldwide. The case concerns posts insulting Eva Glawischnig, the leader of the Austrian Green party. Above, a poster featuring Glawischnig before legislative elections in September 2013.<\/p>\n

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Alexander Klein\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Alexander Klein\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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In a decision that could have global consequences, an Austrian court ruled on Friday that Facebook must delete postings deemed to be hate speech.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>“[T]he Viennese appeals court ruled on Friday that Facebook must remove the postings against Greens leader Eva Glawischnig as well as any verbatim repostings, and said merely blocking them in Austria without deleting them for users abroad was not sufficient,” Reuters reports<\/a>, adding that Facebook’s lawyers in Vienna declined to comment on the ruling, but that a court spokesman confirmed it.<\/p>\n

The case was brought by Austria’s Green party after its leader, Eva Glawischnig, was insulted on Facebook by posts from someone who didn’t use their real name. According to<\/a> the Austrian newspaper Die Presse<\/em>, the posts called Glawischnig “miese Volksverr\u00e4terin” and “korrupten Trampel,” which translate roughly as “lousy traitor” and “corrupt bumpkin.”<\/p>\n

Facebook has argued that it is governed by the laws of California (site of its headquarters) or Ireland, the base of its European operations, Die Presse<\/em>reported<\/a>. But the court ruled that simply blocking the hate posts in Austria was not enough \u2014 they must be deleted across the platform.<\/p>\n