DEFAMATION ON INTERNET. WHAT ARE THE LIABILITIES FOR THE SERVICE PROVIDER?

A recent decision by the Court of Rome established that the operator of an IT platform is not burdened with any obligation to monitor the content published therein, but is required to carry out a subsequent check in the event of a report of an illegal act by a recipient of the service itself.

The Court analyzes the issue of whether a provider may be required to remove content: essentially, the question is whether, faced with a complaint from a user alleging that the content of a Facebook page is harmful, the owner must proceed without delay or further investigation to immediately remove the unlawful defendant. The Roman Curia's answer is negative. There appears to be no obligation on the page managers to monitor published content prior to publication, given that the sole duty incumbent on them is to conduct a subsequent review of a given content following a report of an illegal activity.

According to the Court of Rome, therefore, the notification or formal notice imposes on the host a duty to immediately evaluate the reported content, but the obligation to remove it ex parte arises only where the content is clearly and evidently unlawful.

All in all, this is a worthy decision, which balances, on the one hand, the need to hold the online service provider accountable, without, on the other, burdening it with the role of censor.