Question Glättli (13.5059): Liability of hosting providers, blog and forum operators
Done.
Submitted text
In its ruling 5A_792/2011 of January 14, 2013, the Federal Court found that hosting providers are not only subject to claims for removal, but also for injunctive relief, e.g. in the case of content that violates personal rights, regardless of fault. It is not enough to delete content on notice.
1. does the Federal Council share the opinion that it is neither possible nor reasonable to expect providers to monitor all customers and implement filtering measures?
2. will it take legislative corrective action?
Response of the Federal Council
The Federal Council has taken note of the decision of the Federal Supreme Court of 14 January 2013. In this ruling, the Federal Supreme Court held the publisher of a Geneva daily newspaper civilly liable for the content of a blog entry written by a third party, because the blog was hosted on the website of the daily newspaper. The Federal Court handed down this ruling in application of the current Civil Code, stating that it was up to the legislator to correct any “serious consequences” that this might have for the Internet in general and for blog hosters in particular. The question of the extent to which a so-called host provider can be held liable under civil or criminal law for content that a third party has placed on the Internet is not new.
The Federal Council has already commented on this in the past. The administration is now in the process of analyzing the ruling of the Federal Supreme Court. This examination has not yet been completed, so it is not possible to say whether there is a need for legislative action from the Federal Council’s point of view. However, I can assure you that we will continue to keep an eye on the issue.