By 15-2 majority, the Court held that it was not a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and its guarantees oof freedom of expression, for Estonian law to make a news site liable for anonymous defamatory comments.
[1] The ruling was unexpected, because of potential conflicts with the "actual knowledge" standard of Article 14 of the EU's E-Commerce Directive.
[2] The ruling is influential in the development of national and European Union law,[3] particularly leading to the Digital Services Act.
Delfi AS was represented by attorneys-at-law Karmen Turk and Villu Otsmann from pan-Baltic law firm Triniti and the government of Estonia by Maris Kuurberg.
[citation needed] The case was followed shortly by Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete and Index.hu Zrt v. Hungary,[4] which reached a different conclusion based on slightly different facts.