Press Council: Activity on the Internet does not justify abrogation of privacy
Just because someone is active on social media does not automatically make them a public figure. With this in mind, the Swiss Press Council partially upheld a complaint filed by a journalist from French-speaking Switzerland against a report published by the online platform Sept.info.
Sept.info reported on a court hearing in January 2015 and published the name and a photo of the accused at the same time. The man, himself a journalist and active on social networks, had been heard by a Lausanne court in a case that concerned only his private life. The journalist therefore filed a complaint with the Swiss Press Council for violation of his privacy. Sept.info's lawyer, on the other hand, argued that the defendant was undoubtedly a public figure, even a person of contemporary history, due to his frequent interventions on social networks.
Consequently, his identity and photo may be disclosed to the public. However, in its ruling published on Thursday, the Press Council stated that none of the conditions of the "Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists" that would allow the identity of the complainant to be disclosed were met in this case. The identity of a defendant may not be disclosed under the pretext that he is active on social media if the accusations made against him have nothing to do with his activity on the internet, the Press Council states.
The case dealt with by the Vaudois judiciary is not connected to the activities of the accused on social networks. For the Press Council, he is also not a public figure. The journalist is not particularly well-known to the public and does not have a large audience following him on social networks. There is no overriding public interest in publishing his name. (SDA)
