MAGYAR TARTALOMSZOLGÁLTATÓK EGYESÜLETE AND INDEX.HU ZRT v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT 9 they had had to face a successful civil action against them, even though they had removed the disputed contents at once after they had learnt, from the court action, that the company concerned had perceived them as injurious. The legal procedure, along with the fees payable, must be seen as having a chilling effect. 40. To conclude, the applicants maintained that the simple application of the traditional rules of editorial responsibility, namely strict liability, was not the answer to the new challenges of the digital era. Imposing strict liability on online publications for all third-party content would have serious adverse repercussions for the freedom of expression and the democratic openness in the age of Internet. (b) The Government 41. The Government conceded that there had been an interference with the applicants’ right to freedom of expression, albeit one prescribed by law and pursuing the legitimate aim of the protection of the rights of others. In their view, the authorities had acted within their margin of appreciation essentially because by displaying the comments the applicants had exceeded the limits of freedom of expression as guaranteed under the Convention. 42. The Government noted that the courts had not availed themselves of the notion of objective liability to be borne by Internet service providers for users’ comments. Pursuant to its Section 1(4), Act no. CVIII of 2001 on Electronic Commercial Services (see paragraph 22 above) had not been applicable in the case, since its scope did not extend to communications made by persons acting outside the sphere of economic or professional activities or public duties by making use of an information society-related service. The applicants’ objective liability had occurred since they had disseminated opinions privately expressed by other persons in a manner violating the law. Consequently, the general provisions of the Civil Code governing the protection of personality rights had been relied on by the courts. As they stated, an expression damaging reputation might also be committed by imparting and disseminating information obtained from other persons. The expressions published had contained unduly injurious, insulting and humiliating statements of facts which were contrary to the rules governing the expression of opinions. The publication of a fact might also amount to an opinion since the circumstances of the publication might reflect an opinion. Honour and reputation, however, did constitute an outer limit even to opinions or value judgments. Under Articles 75(1) and 78(1)(2) of the Civil Code, the statement or dissemination of an injurious and untrue fact concerning another person, or the presentation with untrue implications of a true fact relating to another person constituted defamation. 43. The applicants’ own right to impart and disseminate information and ideas was in no way violated. Indeed, they had not disputed that the comments had infringed the plaintiff’s personality rights. As regards the