29/09/2023, 12:35 SANCHEZ v. FRANCE - 45581/15 (Judgment : No Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} : Grand Chamber) [2023] ECHR 418 (1… 108. As regards the aim pursued by the interference, the Government submitted that it pursued at least one legitimate aim within the meaning of Article 10 of the Convention, namely the protection of the rights of others. 109. As to the necessity of the interference and the context in which the comments had been made, the domestic courts had correctly applied section 24 of the Law of 29 July 1881 in characterising the offence as incitement to hatred, since the applicant’s Facebook “wall” had not only been overtly presented as that of a local Front national politician who was running an election campaign, but had also been voluntarily left open to anyone with a Facebook account. This meant that his responsibility was all the greater in his capacity as a politician. 110. The Government further submitted that the impugned interference had been proportionate and had been the only measure capable in practice of ensuring the removal of the impugned comments, which had remained accessible to the public, as victims had not had the necessary means to achieve this. They submitted that the applicant could have changed the settings to regulate the comments on his Facebook account and that, in order to avoid further harm to Leila T. and without running the risk of hindering his election campaign, it would have been sufficient for him to delete the comments of which he was perfectly aware and which did not form part of the local debate. 111. Lastly, the Government noted that the applicant had been fined a reduced amount by the Court of Appeal, without there being any further consequences for him. 3. Observations of third-party interveners (a) The Government of Slovakia 112. The Slovak Government observed in particular that the social media era had taken public debate onto the Internet. In addition, repeated attacks on democratic principles, human dignity and private life, hidden under the cloak of freedom of expression, should be excluded from its scope of protection. The State should be allowed to combat such attacks by criminalising hate speech. 113. With regard to the very significant impact of social media and their use by politicians, the Slovak Government observed that they had become a tool for political combat and public influence. To illustrate this argument, they provided statistical data obtained for Slovakia and analysed by a Slovak newspaper, according to which, for a country of 5.45 million inhabitants, the three best known Slovak politicians had, in https://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/418.html 51/100