The Supreme Court sitting as Hugh Court of Justice
Before: President E. Hayut, Deputy President H. Melcer, Justice A. Stein
Judgment
(April 12, 2021)
Deputy President H. Melcer:
1.
The petition before the Court concerns the constitutionality of the activity of the Cyber
Department of the State Attorney’s office (hereinafter: the Cyber Department, or the Department)
in regard to online network operators, content providers and other online platforms (hereinafter:
online platform operators or operators) with whom the Department maintains contact in order to
prevent publications that may violate Israeli criminal law.
2.
In the framework of the petition, The Petitioners requested that an order nisi be issued
against the Respondents, ordering them to show why the Cyber Department should not
immediately desist from requesting that operators “voluntarily” remove content from the network.
I will now present the facts relevant to deciding the matter.
Background and summary of relevant facts
3.
In September 2015, a cyber-enforcement unit was created in the Ministry of Justice (in the
framework of the State Attorney’s Office). It’s creation “derived from the need for a focused effort
to confront crime and terror in cyberspace, after identifying a sharply rising trend in cybercrime”
(from the 2015-2016 Summary of the State Attorney’s Office – Appendix P/1 of the petition;
hereinafter: the 2015 Summary). As arises from the preliminary response of the Respondents listed
in the heading, the tasks assigned to the unit, which became a department, focused upon activity
intended to reduce the harms and dangers caused by crimes perpetrated online, in two separate
enforcement tracks that will be described below.