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29/09/2023, 12:35 SANCHEZ v. FRANCE - 45581/15 (Judgment : No Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} : Grand Chamber) [2023] ECHR 418 (1… 2021, collected 11, 4.2 and 4.1 million social media interactions respectively (the second and third being of a far-right political orientation). Similarly, in 2020, the mayor of a Slovak town of 5,000 people, known for his resistance to governmental measures relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, had 125,000 interactions on his Facebook page, and nearly 1.5 million the following year. They added that politicians were also the authors of highly successful social media posts. 114. In that context, the Slovak Government considered that the question of politicians’ criminal liability for hate speech disseminated on social media should be approached with extreme caution. (b) The Government of the Czech Republic 115. The Czech Government argued in particular that the scope of the liability shared between the author of the content, the social media platform and third parties had to be clarified by the Court, so that the obligations should be reasonably foreseeable for each one. 116. They took the view that the liability of the social network or platform should not be overlooked, to avoid imposing a disproportionate burden on the holder of an account. They also raised the issue of the scope of the States’ positive obligation where the authors of the offending remarks had been identified. 117. In addition, warning against the chilling effect of criminal sanctions, particularly in an election context, they found it necessary to envisage alternative procedures and less severe measures. (c) Media Defence and the Electronic Frontier Foundation 118. Media Defence and the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted inter alia that the principles established in Delfi AS (cited above) should not be applied to the users of digital platforms (such as Facebook) acting as mere intermediaries which, according to some studies, were among those most impacted by erroneous moderation. 119. In their view, the various users of social media should not be obliged to decide whether third-party posts on their accounts were lawful, since that was a matter for the national courts alone, or to monitor content produced by third parties. They should be held liable only in the event of proven knowledge of the illegal content. (d) European Information Society Institute (EISi) 120. EISi underscored the need to determine the outer limits of the liability of speech facilitators while examining the interaction between the https://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/418.html 52/100

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Sanchez v. France (GC)

Case Law

Country

France

Country Location

Latitude: 46.808568018841505

Longitude: 2.799314618110868

Country Location (linked Case Law): France

Decision Date: May 15, 2023

Case Status: Closed

Case Outcome (Procedural)

Dismissed
Inadmissible
Motion Denied

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Judgment in Favor of Defendant/ Acquittal

Keywords

Access to Information
Content Regulation / Censorship
Digital Rights

Judicial Body: European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)

Court Name: European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)

Case Number: 45581/15

Case Summary: The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) dismissed the application brought by Mr Julien Sanchez against France for an alleged violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by reason of the criminal conviction imposed on him by France—after he failed to remove hateful comments on his Facebook “wall”. Mr Sanchez, a politician in France and a candidate in the legislative elections, had been fined—in a criminal procedure—by French courts for failing to remove from his Facebook wall comments made by third parties that were discriminatory and incited hatred or violence against the Muslim community. The applicant argued that the fine violated his right to freedom of expression by requiring him to bear the disproportionate burden of monitoring all comments posted at any time by other users on his open and public Facebook wall. Mr Sanchez applied to the European Court of Human Rights alleging a violation of Article 10. The Fifth Section of the European Court of Human Rights held that Mr Sanchez's conviction, for failing to promptly remove unlawful comments posted by third parties on the public wall of his Facebook account, did not violate his rights under Article 10 of the ECHR. The Fifth Section of the Court held that the comments were manifestly unlawful because they discriminated against the Muslim community and that the sentence imposed by the French courts penalized him for his lack of control over a communication service open to the public which he had created on his own initiative. In that regard, it stressed that Mr Sanchez, as the owner of the wall of his Facebook account, had specific obligations to monitor and remove hateful comments. Finally, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held —in a 13-4 votation— that Article 10 of the Convention had not been violated because, although France had interfered with the applicant’s freedom of expression, the interference was lawful and necessary in a democratic society and pursued a legitimate aim. The Grand Chamber held that it was not disproportionate to attribute shared liability—in varying degrees —to all the actors involved, including Mr Sanchez in his capacity as owner of the Facebook wall, for failing to take action in relation to the discriminatory comments. The ECtHR highlighted that the duty to act reasonably, in light of the circumstances, was greater for the applicant in his capacity as a politician, and that Mr Sanchez was aware of the controversial comments posted on his social network.

Case Significance: The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.

Related Caselaw (self)

Source URL: Global Freedom of Expression

Collection

CIPIT

Date Updated: Sep 29, 2023

Primary Documents

SANCHEZ v. FRANCE - 45581_15 (Judgment _ No Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} _ Grand Chamber) [2023] ECHR 418 (15 May 2023).pdf
English
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CYRILLA: Global Digital Rights Law

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Sanchez v. France (GC)

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