20 MAGYAR TARTALOMSZOLGÁLTATÓK EGYESÜLETE AND INDEX.HU ZRT v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT not perform any examination of the conduct of either the applicants or the plaintiff. (v) Consequences of the comments for the injured party 84. As the Court has previously held in the context of compensation for the protraction of civil proceedings, juristic persons may be awarded compensation for non-pecuniary damage, where consideration should be given to the company’s reputation (see Comingersoll S.A. v. Portugal [GC], no. 35382/97, § 35, ECHR 2000-IV). However, the Court reiterates that there is a difference between the commercial reputational interests of a company and the reputation of an individual concerning his or her social status. Whereas the latter might have repercussions on one’s dignity, for the Court interests of commercial reputation are primarily of business nature and devoid of the same moral dimension which the reputation of individuals encompasses. In the instant application, the reputational interest at stake is that of a private company; it is thus a commercial one without relevance to moral character (see, mutatis mutandis, Uj, cited above, § 22). 85. The consequences of the comments must nevertheless be put into perspective. At the time of the publication of the article and the impugned comments, there were already ongoing inquiries into the plaintiff company’s business conduct (see paragraph 17 above). Against this background, the Court is not convinced that the comments in question were capable of making any additional and significant impact on the attitude of the consumers concerned. However, the domestic courts do not appear to have evaluated whether the comments reached the requisite level of seriousness and whether they were made in a manner actually causing prejudice to a legal person’s right to professional reputation (see paragraph 57 above). (vi) Consequences for the applicants 86. The applicants were obliged to pay the court fees, including the fee paid by the injured party for its legal representation (see paragraph 22 above), but no awards were made for non-pecuniary damage. However, it cannot be excluded that the court decision finding against the applicants in the present case might produce legal basis for a further legal action resulting a damage award. In any event, the Court is of the view that the decisive question when assessing the consequence for the applicants is not the absence of damages payable, but the manner in which Internet portals such as theirs can be held liable for third-party comments. Such liability may have foreseeable negative consequences on the comment environment of an Internet portal, for example by impelling it to close the commenting space altogether. For the Court, these consequences may have, directly or indirectly, a chilling effect on the freedom of expression on the Internet. This effect could be particularly detrimental for a non-commercial website