A Facebook user who ‘liked’ a post accusing another man of anti-Semitism and racism has been convicted of defamation in a landmark ruling.
In the first case of its kind in Switzerland, the 45-year-old unnamed man from Zurich was found guilty after he pressed the ‘like’ button on several posts attacking Erwin Kessler, the president of an animal rights group.
The posts came about during discussions on the social media website over which animal welfare groups should be allowed to take part in a large vegan street festival, Veganmania Schweiz.
Posts describing Kessler as racist, anti-Semitic or fascist, and his organisation as a neo-Nazi group, 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 had spread their content by making them visible to a larger number of people.
Read the article in the Blue Mountain Gazette (from The Telegraph , London)