Twitter – Court Ruling (Germany, 2024)

The data subject was a registered user of Twitter, operated by the parent company of the controller. The data subject posted on multiple occasions content that the controller removed on the same days. On 13 February 2022, the controller deactivated the data subject's account and notified them. The data subject sought legal redress, and the LG Köln ordered the controller to fully restore the profile, provide information on whether the deactivation had been undertaken by a third-party company, and cover the data subject's legal costs. The court rejected the data subject's additional requests for data correction, prevention of further account blocking, and damages of €1,500. The data subject appealed, seeking these rejected requests. The controller, however, withdrew its appeal. The Higher Regional Court of Cologne dismissed the data subject's appeal. First, the court held that the data subject's request to delete all deletion and blocking notes from their user data record did not establish a valid deletion claim under Article 17 GDPR#1 as the upcoming legal processes made the data necessary for the defence of legal claims Article 17 GDPR#3e. The court found that the controller's documentation of violations against its terms did not entitle the data subject to a correction claim under Article 16 GDPR. The statements on the deletion counter were not factual inaccuracies but legal assessments. Thus, the claim for correction rights according to Article 16 GDPR did not apply. Third, the court examined the request to prevent future account blocks without prior notification and found it excessively broad. Certain scenarios, such as blocking for unlawful content, permitted the controller's immediate action under legal compliance obligations. Therefore, this claim was unreasonable. astly, the court dismissed the request for damages, as the appeal did not present a clear basis for differentiating claimed material and immaterial damages (€1,500 total), which contravened proce