Court of Appeal: Facebook may not arbitrarily block cultural institution
Meta has unlawfully blocked the Facebook page of Filmwerkstatt DĂĽsseldorf, a Court has confirmed. This was probably triggered by the nipple ban.
(Image: Lightspring/Shutterstock.com)
The Filmwerkstatt DĂĽsseldorf can breathe a sigh of relief. The blocking of the cultural institution's Facebook page by Meta Platforms was unlawful. This decision by the DĂĽsseldorf Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG) was won by the non-profit association for cinematographic enthusiasts together with the Gesellschaft fĂĽr Freiheitsrechte (GFF). Competition law served as the legal lever. The reason for this was the blocking of the Filmwerkstatt's Facebook page in December 2021 without prior notice or immediate justification.
The Filmwerkstatt was presumably a victim of Meta's nipple ban, which has been contested for years: it had posted a program note for the Oscar-nominated film "The Shaman and the Snake" with a still image. It showed a group of Indigenous people wearing loincloths.
In 2024, the DĂĽsseldorf Regional Court ordered Meta to cease and desist from blocking the plaintiff's Facebook page again based on the underlying facts without giving specific reasons (case no. 14d O 1/23). A fine of 250,000 euros was imposed for non-compliance. Meta was also ordered to pay the costs of the warning in the amount of 627.13 euros as well as the costs of the legal dispute. According to the ruling, the blocking without prior or immediate justification and hearing is "an abuse of a dominant market position in the sense of obstructing the plaintiff". Meta's actions were also not objectively justified.
Meta only found a note on nude depictions of children
According to GFF, the OLG has now confirmed the judgment of the LG. Meta argued in vain that the blocking had to do with the removal of a total of 17 postings due to violations of Facebook regulations. Specifically, the ban on depicting children in the nude had been violated. In this respect, the note "Child_Nudity" was still stored in the internal systems. However, this can no longer be traced in detail, as the posts are deleted after 90 days at the latest.
Meta admitted during the proceedings that the blocking could be an "error in individual cases". The data company rejected the plaintiffs' accusation that it had deliberately made a misjudgement. However, it did not get away with it.
A German court was only able to rule on the case "because it was an antitrust dispute", explains the GFF. By blocking the Filmwerkstatt website, Meta had clearly exploited its dominant market position. As a result, the association was unable to advertise its services on Facebook for a year and a half. As a result, interested parties who support the association financially could not be reached. The civil rights organization considers the ruling to be groundbreaking, as it offers associations, artists and researchers in particular the opportunity to make their voices heard.
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