Man is convicted of defamation over Facebook ‘like’

In what is being dubbed a 'landmark' case, a Swiss court has convicted a man of defamation over several posts he ‘liked’ on Facebook which accused another man of racism and anti-Semitism.

The 45-year-old convicted man from Zurich, whose name is not known, was handed a suspended fine. He had ‘liked’ Facebook posts which accused Erwin Kessler, the president of an animals rights group in Switzerland, of being fascist and part of a neo-Nazi organisation. The Facebook posts arose from debates as to what animal welfare groups should be allowed take part in a large vegan street festival named Veganmania Schweiz. Although the posts were ‘liked’ by more people than simply the defendant, Mr Kessler brought the man to court arguing that the defendant had intended to damage his good name, harming him without just cause and that by ‘liking’ the posts, this message was spread to a large audience online. According to the Telegraph, Zurich court judge Catherine Gerwig said that by hitting ‘like’ on the posts the accused man was “spreading a value judgement.” She went on to explain that a ‘like’ is seen as a positive, meaning he supported the content of the post. The accused couldn’t prove the statement made about Kessler was true. Although in 1998, Mr Kessler was convicted of racial discrimination involving the removal of a ban of the Jewish method for slaughtering animals to produce kosher meat. However, that was 20 years ago and the courts said he cannot be accused of racism or anti-Semitism without evidential proof that stands today. Others have also been accused of defaming Mr Kessler in the cities of Zurich, Lucerne and Bern.