Legal Updates

Infringement of privacy is justified when there is a public interest in it, provided that the publication of the details is not false publication

October 20, 2022
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The creator of a blog published under a pseudonym on the Internet articles that are defamatory against complainants in a sexual harassment case and in response a third party, which is active in the fight against sexual harassment, published the real name of the blogger.

The Court held that the publication of the blogger's name does not violate his privacy. The right to anonymity in postings on the Internet is not self-evident. While the ability to post things anonymously is important as a protection against the tyranny of the majority, this right does not exist where the anonymous posting is wrongful, such as the posting of defamatory content. In addition, the details that have been revealed must be reviewed and can be viewed as a violation of the right to privacy only in the event that they amount to information concerning the modesty of the advertiser's personal life. Here, the publication of the blogger's name comes as a response to wrongful articles that are defamatory and the only detail published is the blogger's real name, a detail that does not concern the modesty of the blogger's personal life and hence does not constitute an infringement of the blogger's privacy.