The Delfi AS v. Estonia court debate reached a reputable law journal

The American Journal of International Law, which is among the most reputable law journals of the world, treats the Delfi AS v. Estonia court debate in its latest issue. The author of the article is Mart Susi, an associate professor of public law of the Tallinn University Law School.

In the research article treating the court debate parallels are drawn with the United States court practices where anonymous comments are given  higher protection and Internet news portals are not responsible for the comments.

“The Delfi AS v. Estonia court case is a vivid example of the attitudes of the New World and the Old World towards freedom of expression and protection of private life, which have evolved during centuries.  When in the New World, that is the United States, the higher protection is given to freedom of expression, then in the Old World, that is Europe, sometimes protection of private life is favoured,” says Mart Susi, the author of the article.

Susi mentioned that this is the first court decision where the European Court of Human Rights forms an opinion on the liability of an Internet portal for publishing anonymous comments. The judgement is significant, because Estonia is known in the world as a country of a high level of freedom of expression. Although, according to the court judgement, the liability of the Internet portal must be presumed, it does not provide clear guidelines on how the portal should monitor anonymous comments. It is possible that this will be clarified in the decision of the Grand Chamber.

“The legal scholars of the world are currently discussing as to what extent is the Internet environment even subject to legal regulation”, adds Mart Susi.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights is currently reviewing the Delfi AS v. Estonian court case for the second time.  On 10 October 2103, the first case ever decided by the European Court of Human Rights on whether an Internet news portal can be held liable for offensive comments posted by its readers. The chamber found unanimously that, in holding the news portal liable for such (mostly anonymous) comments, the government of Estonia has imposed justifiable and proportionate restrictions on the company’s freedom of expression and had therefore not violated Article 10 of European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The judgment is particularly significant since Estonia has earned high international reputation for both its Internet and its press freedom. The Freedom on the Net 2013 Estonia ranked second after Iceland in the global context; The Press Freedom Index ranked Estonia in eleventh place for 2013.

The American Journal of International Law has been published quarterly since 1907. It features articles, editorials, notes, and comments by pre-eminent scholars on developments in international law and international relations. The Journal contains summaries and analyses of decisions by national and international courts and arbitral or other tribunals, and of contemporary U.S. practice in international law.