The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a decision on liability for hyperlinks and freedom of expression (Magyar Jeti Zrt v. Hungary)

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided in case of MAGYAR JETI ZRT v. HUNGARY concerning liability for hyperlinks in the domestic defamation law and its compatibility with freedom of expression. In its decision, the ECHR stated that hyperlinks can not be equated to the traditional publication, as they only direct the users to already available content. The ECHR noted that information in a hyperlink can be changed at any time and to subject publishers to liability for a hyperlink would “have foreseeable negative consequences on the flow of information on the Internet, impelling article authors and publishers to refrain altogether from hyperlinking to material over whose changeable content they have no control. This may have, directly or indirectly, a chilling effect on freedom of expression on the Internet.”