by Desislava Stankova | Jul 29, 2015 | Blogging, Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Social Media Law
It is a story about mr.L (a ferry company majority shareholder), an article in Delfi (one of the largest Estonian news portals), plenty of insulting comments under the article and the freedom of expression in the EU. The story ended recently on June 16, 2015 when the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) upheld the 2013 decision of the Chamber of the ECtHR on the Delfi v. Estonia (no.64569/09) case. But let`s see how did it all begin. The Story It all started in 2006 with an article about mr. L’s shipping company which changed routes of its ferries and the implications this change had on ice roads. Hundreds of angry comments followed with about 20 of them being truly insulting to mr. L and even vulgar. The owner’s lawyers contacted Delfi and requested the immediate removal of the defamatory comments and the payment of damages to mr. L. Delfi, following its notice-and-takedown regime, deleted the comments (which have been visible for 6 weeks already) the same day, but refused to pay damages. Thus, Mr. L brought the case to the Estonian court, claiming about 32,000 EUR in damages. Estonian Court decision(s) Delfi lost the case in the Estonian courts and damages were awarded to the shipping company owner. The courts in Estonia concluded that the comments, being defamatory and insulting, cannot be protected as freedom of expression. The amount of the damages have been ridiculously small, only 320 EUR, but one may wonder how did Delfi lost at all, considering the limited liability provided to intermediaries under the EU’s e-Commerce Directive. Indeed Delfi claimed...
by Desislava Stankova | May 23, 2015 | Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Privacy and Data Protection, Social Media Law
Imagine your ex-boyfriend posted some revenge porn pictures and data about you on his website and on Facebook. Would you like it removed from Google`s search results so that your employer and your grandmother don`t find it? What if you are a teacher convicted for a minor crime over 10 years ago and that article from the past with your name still appears in search results. Would you want that removed? Or maybe you are doctor who performed a botched procedure and now you really need all your local newspapers` articles links in Google about your malpractice deleted. Do you think if you legally requested any of the above removals, Google would comply and delete the respective search result? The answer is it depends on the situation. All of the cases mentioned above are real and have been already decided – the first two requests for deletion have been fulfilled, while the doctor`s malpractice news articles still appear on Google. Let`s see why and how is it possible. The Costeja Case In Europe there is the so called Right to be Forgotten which has been officially put in practice exactly one year ago in May 2014 when the European Court of Justice ruled against Google on the Costeja case. Mario Costeja González is a Spanish citizen who turned to the Spanish Data Protection Agency to file a complaint against a newspaper and against Google Spain and Google Inc. with the request for removal of a link to an auction notice about his repossessed home due to a debt proceedings he has resolved years ago. The Spanish court referred the...
![[US] Testimonials and Endorsements In Online Advertising – Can We Trust Them?](http://elaw.guide/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PikiWiki_Israel_32304_The_Internet_Messenger_by_Buky_Schwartz-1080x675.jpg)
by Desislava Stankova | Jan 25, 2015 | E-Commerce, Social Media Law
You have seen it many times – blogs or social media posts that contain word-of-a-mouth advertisements regarding weight loss supplements, or an exceptional new book, or any other product mentioned by the reviewer. These reviews often come with a number of “before” and “after” pictures and satisfied customers` testimonials. Needless to say, in a significant number of cases, the truth about the product result is far from what is depicted in the “before” and “after” pictures and the testimonials are not always even real, which seriously undermines our trust in the online reviews we read. 2009 FTC Guidelines What changed after December 1, 2009 is that the US Federal Trade Commission`s (FTC) Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising came into effect. Having a husband active in blogging and social media advertising and being a consumer at the same time, I thought I might have double personal interest to further research the essence of the guidelines and how can they affect the trust in online advertising, not only in US, but rather internationally, with internet being an international phenomenon. The 2009 Guidelines have introduced two main changes that can affect e-commerce in comparison to the previous Guidelines that were last updated in 1980. On one hand endorsements and testimonials or any representation as to products or services must be substantiated. The Guidelines define endorsement as “…any advertising message … that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of a party other than the sponsoring advertiser”. On the other hand any “material connection” between the online marketer and the product/service being advertised...
