A man convicted in Switzerland over 'defamatory' Facebook likes

Baku. 31 May. REPORT.AZ/ A court in Switzerland has fined a man for "liking" comments deemed to be defamatory that were posted on Facebook. 

Report informs citing the BBC.

The landmark case involved comments made about Erwin Kessler, the head of an animal protection group.

He was accused of being anti-Semitic and racist, media reports say.

The Zurich district court said the defendant "clearly endorsed the unseemly content and made it his own" by liking comments. He was given a conditional fine of 4,000 Swiss francs. The 45-year-old man liked six comments, according to Swiss newspaper Le Temps.

Mr Kessler is reported to have sued more than a dozen people over various comments made on Facebook in 2015.

They were made in relation to a discussion over which animal rights groups should be allowed to participate in a vegan festival.

The Zurich court ruled that the defendant had not been able to prove that the comments he liked were truthful.

It also said that the action of "liking" the comments "made them accessibly to a large number of people", and were thus an "affront to [Kessler's] honour".