- Enforcing jurisdiction
- Germany · Geography does not establish applicable law.
- Confirmed applicable legislation
- No confirmed legal basis recorded.
- Privacy topics
Facebook – Court Ruling (Germany, 2019)
Privacy enforcement record
This record is classified outside cookie consent. Subject classification does not confirm an applicable law. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.
A court ruled that Facebook must honor a man's request to keep a specific post online, despite the company claiming it didn't understand the injunction due to a lack of English translation. This decision emphasizes that companies must be able to understand legal documents in the languages they operate. It sets a precedent for how companies should handle legal communications.
What happened
The court ruled that Facebook could not block a man from posting a specific text on its platform.
Who was affected
A man from Düsseldorf who sought to keep his post on Facebook.
What the authority found
The court held that Facebook had a duty to understand legal documents in German, given its large user base in Germany.
Why this matters
This ruling highlights the importance of language accessibility in legal matters for companies. It suggests that businesses must ensure they can effectively communicate and understand legal requirements in the languages relevant to their operations.
Source checks
Secondary-source text retrieved.
Automated check recorded — 23 March 2026.
Processing notes: authority corrected.
Retrieved text may be a secondary summary or an announcement. These automated statuses do not establish that the original decision was read or that the record received an independent legal review. How we check sources
"In September 2018, a man from Düsseldorf had obtained a temporary injunction from the Düsseldorf Regional Court, which prohibited the Irish-based company Facebook from blocking the man from posting a specific text on www.facebook.com or from deleting the post. He had this injunction served on Facebook without an English translation. Facebook claimed that the company did not understand the content and needed an English translation." *https://www.olg-duesseldorf.nrw.de/behoerde/presse/Presse_aktuell/20200107_PM_Facebook/index.php* "The 7th Civil Senate ruled that the understanding of the language depends on the organization of the company as a whole. Facebook has a large number of users in Germany to whom the platform is made available entirely in German. The contractual documents used for this purpose are also in German. Concrete formulations in the terms of use show a thorough knowledge of the German language and German law. The Senate had to deal with this question because the man from Düsseldorf claimed the costs incurred by him in the amount of approximately EUR 730. This requires service of the preliminary injunction. The Senate had to clarify the validity of this service. The content of the contribution, which was not to be deleted, was irrelevant to the decision." *https://www.olg-duesseldorf.nrw.de/behoerde/presse/Presse_aktuell/20200107_PM_Facebook/index.php*
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (1)
Other cases involving Facebook in DE
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Facebook - Germany (2019). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
Last updated: