Case Law | Right to honor vs. Freedom of expression – Precautionary measure – Rejection – Activity protected by freedom of expression.
Data Privacy & Data Protection Department | Case Law | Right to honor vs. Freedom of expression – Precautionary measure – Rejection – Activity protected by freedom of expression.
“R.A.J. v. Facebook Argentina SRL s/ Amparo”, Federal Court of Appeals in Civil and Commercial Matters, Division I, 16 September 2020.
On 16 September 2020, the Federal Court of Appeals in Civil and Commercial Matters dismissed the lawsuit filed by the plaintiff, which had requested an injunction against Facebook Argentina SRL to order the social network to block or remove the content posted on three user-profiles and, in turn, to order Facebook Argentina to remove any links to pages in which it is alleged to have committed acts of gender-based violence.
Among the grounds of the judgment, the Court understood that, although the matter raised by the plaintiff involves two essential interests (freedom of expression and personal rights), the judicial doctrine of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation has understood that the right to express opinions through the internet encourages freedom of expression both in its individual and collective dimension. In this sense, it has been understood that State and judicial intervention must be particularly careful not to affect the right to free expression.
Likewise, the Court upheld the rejection of the precautionary measure on the grounds that the plaintiff did not present evidence to refute the terms of the publications and that it was only limited to alleging the slanderous, libelous, and defamatory nature of the publications.
In view of the above, the Court considered that it was not appropriate to adopt a decision contrary to the doctrine of the Supreme Court, which has considered, in harmony with the provisions of Sections 14 and 32 of the National Constitution and Law No. 26,032, that the activity carried out through a blog is protected by freedom of expression.
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