On November 3rd 2022, the Spanish Supreme Court published a sentence which establishes that the owner of a Facebook account is responsible for any comments published by a third party on the “wall” of this social network.
One Facebook user wrote about a problem with his neighbours on his account’s “wall”. Third parties were adding their comments on the subject, some of them including insults that were read by a large number of people (they received 447 “Likes”).
The insulted neighbours filed a lawsuit for libel and defamation. The Facebook user raised a point on the conflict between freedom of expression and the right to honour, claiming that the right to information and freedom of expression should prevail.
The Supreme Court takes the exact opposite view:
The Facebook user is responsible for the damage caused to his neighbours, for not removing the insults from his public “wall”, once known. The alleged danger of censorship cannot be accepted as an excuse, since there is a duty of reactive diligence and care. The user had the power of control over his “wall” and should have erased the insults or malignant comments immediately. Not doing so, and ignoring them, he broke the Law, and is responsible for the damages.
Infante Legal can advise you on how to avoid incurring liability for misuse of social networks, and can defend you from interference of your image or honour.
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INFANTE Lawyers
November 2022
