A court in Hamburg has ruled out that the rights of one of the leading figures of the Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany party, Alice Weidel, were violated with a comment posted on Facebook. Last September some Sanda G. called the chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group a "Nazi b……" The commentator insulted Weidel, who happens to be openly gay, under a post dedicated to a Huffington Post article, which reported about the politician’s alleged attack against same-sex marriage.
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The comment was removed only after the politician complained about the offensive material herself despite earlier demands from other users. However the insult is still available through a so-called VPN tunnel to a server abroad, as the court has recently stated. However, the judicial body is still to decide whether a preliminary injunction against Facebook should be issued. The final say will be announced on April 30. If the court approves it, the social network will have to block this technical loophole for their users.
However, Facebook’s lawyer Martin Munz claimed that the disputed post was no longer available even via a VPN. He also described the comment against Weidel as "tasteless," but still warned against threats towards freedom of expression if Facebook followed the decision of some country’s court worldwide.
"Facebook is not the super judge," the lawyer noted, commenting on the decision.