29/09/2023, 12:35 SANCHEZ v. FRANCE - 45581/15 (Judgment : No Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} : Grand Chamber) [2023] ECHR 418 (1… 188. The Court would, however, emphasise that this finding is not to be understood as entailing an inversion of the principles established in its case‑law hitherto (see paragraphs 146-147 above). Thus, while specific duties may be required of the applicant on account of his status as politician, such requirement is indissociable from the principles relating to the rights which come with such status, and the Nîmes Court of Appeal could usefully have referred to those principles in order to strengthen its reasoning. It is only when those principles have been properly taken into account that it becomes possible for the domestic courts, where the facts submitted to them so justify and provided their decision contains the relevant reasoning, to base their decision on the ground that freedom of political expression is not absolute and that a Contracting State may render it subject to certain “restrictions” or “penalties” (see paragraphs 148 et seq. above). 189. The fact remains that the applicant was using his Facebook account in his capacity as a local councillor and for political purposes, during an election campaign to which the impugned comments were directly related (see paragraph 180 above). Referring back to its case-law in such matters, the Court would reiterate that national authorities are better placed than itself to understand and appreciate the specific societal problems faced in particular communities and contexts, or the likely impact of certain acts that they are called upon to adjudicate (see, mutatis mutandis, Wingrove v. the United Kingdom, 25 November 1996, § 63, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-V, and Maguire v. the United Kingdom (dec.), no. 58060/13, § 54, 3 March 2015). In the circumstances of the present case, while referring to its earlier finding that the content of the comments published on the applicant’s “wall” were clearly unlawful (see paragraphs 169‑177 above), the Court considers that the Criminal Court and Nîmes Court of Appeal were best placed to assess the facts in the light of the difficult local context and their acknowledged political dimension (see paragraph 176 above). The Court therefore fully endorses the Chamber’s finding that the language used in the comments at issue clearly incited hatred and violence against a person on account of his or her religion and this cannot be disguised or minimised by the election context or by a wish to discuss local difficulties (see paragraph 88 of the Chamber judgment). (ii) Steps taken by the applicant 190. The Court first observes that there can be little doubt that a minimum degree of subsequent moderation or automatic filtering would be desirable in order to identify clearly unlawful comments as quickly as possible and to ensure their deletion within a reasonable time, even where there has been no notification by an injured party, whether this is done by the host itself (in this case Facebook), acting as a professional entity https://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/418.html 72/100