The district court in Heilbronn has dismissed a lawsuit by the Berlin SPD politician Sawsan Chebli for insult. This emerges from the judgment, which is available to the German Press Agency. Chebli had been insulted in a Facebook post from 2020 with the words "Rarely seen such a stupid piece of brain vacuum in politics as Sawsan Chebli".
On the other hand, the former state secretary in the Berlin Senate had complained and demanded compensation. The judge justified her decision with the fact that the statement was "still covered by freedom of expression". Freedom of expression does not include "abusive criticism, formal insult and attacks on human dignity" in the case of evaluations, the judge said.
An insult in the constitutional sense is given if a statement no longer has a comprehensible reference to an objective discussion. However, according to the judge, this reference was to be assumed in this case.
Chebli: "A fatal signal"
Chebli expressed his horror at the decision of the district court. "With this decision, the court is sending a fatal signal. Freedom of expression does not mean that you can insult and defame people in the worst possible way," she said on Wednesday. Hatred and agitation are not an opinion and the Internet is not a legal vacuum.
Chebli, who is often the target of hostility and death threats on the Internet, has written a book on the subject, which was published this Wednesday. It calls on politicians to regulate US platforms such as Facebook and Twitter even more strongly than before, so that people can move around the Internet without fear.
In addition, the book is to be understood as a call to civil society "to leave the observer role and to show civil courage," said Chebli. People must reflect on their behaviour on the Internet and recognise that hatred against individuals does not only concern those affected, but is also a danger to democracy.