20 DELFI AS v. ESTONIA JUDGMENT interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent states from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.” 47. The Government contested that argument. A. Admissibility 48. The Government pointed out that according to the applicant company it had been neither the author nor the discloser of the defamatory comments. The Government noted that if the Court shared that view, the application was incompatible ratione materiae with the provisions of the Convention, as the Convention did not protect the freedom of expression of a person who was neither the author nor the discloser. The applicant company could not claim to be a victim of a violation of the freedom of expression of persons whose comments had been deleted. Nevertheless, the Government were of the opinion that in fact the applicant company was the discloser of the defamatory comments. 49. The applicant company disagreed. It contended that the obligation imposed on it to maintain a preventive censorship policy over the exercise of freedom of expression of third persons also infringed its freedom of expression, that is freedom to impart information created and published by third persons. 50. The Court notes that the applicant company was sued for defamation in respect of comments posted on its Internet portal, it was deemed to be discloser (or publisher – the Estonian words avaldama/avaldaja mean both disclose/discloser and publish/publisher; see, for example, paragraphs 36 and 38 above) of the comments – along with their authors – and held liable for its failure to prevent the disclosure of or remove on its own initiative the unlawful comments. It was obliged by the domestic courts to pay the plaintiff compensation for non-pecuniary damage he had sustained. Thus, the applicant company was directly affected by the domestic courts’ decisions. The Court considers that the applicant company’s grievance relates to freedom of expression and falls within the scope of Article 10 of the Convention. Therefore, the Government’s objection has to be dismissed. 51. The Court further notes that the application is not manifestly illfounded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. Nor is