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Wikipedia Fighting Overseas SLAPP Suit Because Someone Didn’t Like The Factual Info Posted About Them (www.techdirt.com)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The case started in August 2021 with a complaint that de Paço was upset about the Portuguese and English language versions of the articles about him. The first judicial pass went well. But that’s where the good news ends. The next level of Portugal’s court system decided the lower court was wrong about everything, which means that — for now — the person wanting to memory hole past allegations at least temporarily has the upper hand. The Portuguese court ruled against them on 13 July, and demanded that the Foundation turn over personal data about multiple users who worked on the article.

Obviously, Wikimedia is not just going to hand over user info just because this court weirdly decided it’s the guy who just wants people to stop making (apparently) factual allegations against him. Not only would this surrender of info go against Wikimedia’s own standards, it goes against European law, which does not align with this strange decision by Portugal’s appellate-level court.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago

Clearly this particular suit by this particular person is iffy. However, I don't think this framing is very good: the fact Wikimedia is headquartered elsewhere shouldn't make it immune from being sued where an affected party lives.

Also, this part of the article seems a bit contradictory:

Just because someone doesn’t like what’s written about them doesn’t give them the right to unmask contributors. And if the plaintiff still believes he’s been wronged by these contributors, he can definitely sue them personally for libel (or whatever). What he has no right to demand is that a third party unmask users simply because it’s the easiest target to hit.

Ok, but how does he sue them personally without knowing who they are? It's fine to say this shouldn't be regarded as libel (I agree, it's a factual point, should be covered by exceptio veritatis or whatever) but I think it's a bit dishonest to say you can't hit Wikimedia, go after the individual users; but also, Wikimedia shouldn't be forced to reveal them.

Much better if the court would consider this information as being accurate and in the public interest.

Of course the GDPR cuts two ways here, because political information is an especially protected category, with certain exceptions (notorious information). So I'm not sure how the information on this person's affiliation to the far right was obtained and so on.