29/09/2023, 12:35 SANCHEZ v. FRANCE - 45581/15 (Judgment : No Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} : Grand Chamber) [2023] ECHR 418 (1… 199. The Court further observes that the domestic courts gave reasoned decisions and proceeded with a reasonable assessment of the facts, specifically examining the question whether the applicant had been aware of the unlawful comments posted on his Facebook “wall”. While the Criminal Court’s judgment merely noted that the applicant had allowed his “friends” to access his “wall” and that he had not removed the impugned comments, which were “still visible as of 6 December 2011” (see paragraph 28 above), without seeking to ascertain whether he had actually known about them at that time - a question that nevertheless went to the heart of the matter - the Court of Appeal’s judgment provided further factual clarification (see paragraph 26 above), namely: the fact that, during the investigation, the applicant had stated that he would consult his account every day; his failure to delete S.B.’s comment; the fact that S.B. had informed him that he had been confronted by Leila T. after posting his comment; and lastly, the fact that the applicant had justified his position by asserting his view that the impugned comments were compatible with freedom of expression. 200. As regards, more specifically, the consideration that the applicant consulted his account on a daily basis, it is true that the applicant had also told the investigators that the comments posted on his “wall” were too numerous for him to be able to read regularly, given the number of “friends” – more than 1,800 - who could post comments twenty-four hours a day (see paragraph 23 above). The domestic courts did not see fit to give reasons for their decision on this point, even though it was a key question for the purposes of assessing the credibility of the applicant’s statements in terms of the number of comments actually posted on his Facebook “wall” in response to his initial post, in order to ascertain whether or not he could have been reasonably expected to review the content of the comments and if necessary delete them. The Court notes, however, that during the hearing before it, the respondent Government clarified, without being contradicted by the applicant, that about fifteen comments had appeared in response to his post of 24 October 2011 (see paragraphs 14 and 15 above). Accordingly, the question of the difficulties caused by the potentially excessive traffic on a politician’s account and the resources required to ensure its effective monitoring, of which the Slovak Government provided an illustration in their observations (see paragraph 113 above), clearly does not arise in the present case. 201. The Court finds, moreover, that a degree of notoriety and representativeness necessarily lend a certain resonance and authority to the words, deeds or omissions of the person in question. Accordingly, it is appropriate to proceed with a proportionality analysis based on the degree of liability that may be attributed to such person: a private individual of limited notoriety and representativeness will have fewer duties than a https://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/418.html 76/100