Germany / Higher Regional Court of Dresden (Oberlandesgericht Dresden) / 4 U 2198/19 / ECLI:DE:OLGDRES:2020:0212.4U2198.19.00 - No direct link to the decision available. The case number "4 U 2198/19" needs to be filled into the search field of the data

Country

Germany

Title

Germany / Higher Regional Court of Dresden (Oberlandesgericht Dresden) / 4 U 2198/19 / ECLI:DE:OLGDRES:2020:0212.4U2198.19.00 - No direct link to the decision available. The case number "4 U 2198/19" needs to be filled into the search field of the database indicated under URL.

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Year

2020

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Incident(s) concerned/related

Incitement to violence or hatred
Other forms of hate speech

Related Bias motivation

Migrant status
Race/Ethnicity

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Higher Regional Court of Dresden (Oberlandesgericht Dresden)

Key facts of the case

The plaintiff took action against the deletion of a Facebook post and a 30-days blocking of her account by Facebook that followed the deletion of the post. Moreover, she requested the court to declare Facebook's measures as illegal and claimed damages.
The deleted post showed a picture of the Kaaba in Mecca with the slogan "End terrorism. Nuke the cube".

Main reasoning/argumentation

The Court found the deletion of the post legitimate as it was classified as hate speech and, thus, violated the Facebook Community Standards.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

The Higher Regional Court had to decide whether a Facebook post constitutes hate speech or not.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

The plaintiff's appeal was rejected.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Dem verständigen Durchschnittsleser wird sich keine andere Interpretation erschließen, als diejenige, dass „muslimischen Terroristen“ nur durch deren Vernichtung beizukommen ist. Mit diesem Beitrag werden also in der denkbar schärfsten Weise Personen allein aufgrund ihrer religiösen Zugehörigkeit angegriffen, indem ihre massenhafte Auslöschung als probates Mittel für die Bekämpfung des vermeintlich von sämtlichen Angehörigen dieser Religion verbreiteten Terrorismus propagiert wird."

"The reasonable average reader will not come to another interpretation than that the only way of responding to "Muslim terrorists" is their annihilitation. By claiming that mass killings are an appropriate way to combat terrorism that is allegedly commited by all members of this religion, this post attacks persons in the most radical way only because of their religion."

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