Facts
The case concerns the dissemination of defamatory comments on a third-party publication on the social media platform Facebook. On August 12, 2015, A. shared a link on Facebook to a post by Facebook user "Indyvegan", in which B. was described as a "repeatedly convicted anti-Semite" and the association C. as an "anti-Semitic organization" and a "neo-Nazi animal welfare association". A. also added critical comments to the post. The Regional Court of Bern-Mittelland found A. guilty of defamation and sentenced him to a conditional fine. The High Court of the Canton of Bern upheld the conviction but overturned the partial acquittal. A. has filed a criminal complaint against this judgment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court first examines whether Art. 28 para. 1 SCC applies. This provision generally only privileges the author in media offenses, not subsequent persons such as the disseminator. The Federal Supreme Court finds that while the broad definition of media in Art. 28 SCC does in principle also cover social media such as Facebook, the decisive factor is that the criminal act must be exhausted in the publication. In the case of "sharing" and commenting on a…