PIHL v. SWEDEN DECISION 4 circumstances of the case in question did not support the conclusion that Article 8 had been violated. B. Relevant domestic law 17. Defamation is criminalised under Chapter 5, Section 1 of the Penal Code (Brottsbalken(1962:700)) which reads as follows: “A person who points out someone as being a criminal or as having a reprehensible way of living or otherwise furnishes information intended to cause exposure to the disrespect of others, shall be sentenced to a fine for defamation. If he was duty-bound to express himself or if, considering the circumstances, the furnishing of information on the matter was defensible, or if he can show that the information was true or that he had reasonable grounds for it, no punishment shall be imposed.” 18. Section 5 of the Act on Responsibility for Electronic Bulletin Boards, concerning the obligation to erase certain messages, states: “If a user submits a message to an electronic bulletin board, the supplier of the service must remove the message from the service, or in some other way prevent its further dissemination, if 1. the message content is obviously such as is referred to in the Penal Code, Chapter 16, Section 5, about inciting rebellion, Chapter 16, Section 8, about agitation against a national ethnic group, Chapter 16, Section 10a, about child pornography crime, or Chapter 16, Section 10b, about unlawful depiction of violence, or 2. it is obvious that the user has, by submitting the message, infringed the copyright or other right protected by Section 5 of the Copyright (Artistic and Literary Works) Act (1960:729). In order to be able to fulfil the obligation under the first paragraph, the supplier is allowed to review the content of messages in the service. The obligation under the first paragraph and the right under the second paragraph also apply to those who have been appointed by the supplier to supervise the service.” 19. According to Section 7 of the Act, a person who intentionally or through gross negligence violates Section 5, paragraph 1, of the Act will be sentenced to a fine or a maximum of six months’ imprisonment or, if the crime is aggravated, to a maximum of two years’ imprisonment. In cases of minor violations, the person will not be held responsible. Moreover, paragraph 2 of Section 7 provides that the first paragraph will not be applied if the offence is subject to criminal liability under the Penal Code or the Copyright Act. 20. Section 4 of the Act states that, in order to be able to fulfil the obligations under Section 5 of the Act, the supplier of an electronic bulletin board must supervise such monitoring of the service as can reasonably be demanded, taking into consideration the extent and focus of the service.