In 2019, a photo of five people circulated particularly in relevant circles ( we reported ). The claim at the time: They were all members of the Green Party in the Bavarian state parliament. One of the people pictured is actually a politician: Tessa Ganserer, and she successfully sued an internet platform that defamed her and the other people in the picture.
This photo circulated in 2019:

The picture was commented with “ These are the Greens in the Bavarian state parliament…..and no: This is NOT a joke….. ”.
Who are the persons?
They are (from left to right) Jeanne Riedel , Ann-Kathrin Bürger , Julia Steenken , Petra Weitzel and Tessa Ganserer . Riedel, Bürger, Steenken and Weitzel are members of the “ German Society for Transidentity and Intersexuality ”. Only the person on the far right, Tessa Ganserer, is actually a politician. If you want to see the Green Party members in the Bavarian state parliament, all you have to do is look at their website (see HERE ).
The photo was taken at a joint press conference of the Bündnis90/Greens faction in the Bavarian state parliament in January 2019.
The lawsuit, part 1
The right-wing populist platform “Hello Opinion” also distributed the photo in a video, as “ Nordbayern ” reports, calling the people “ laughing stock ” and commenting on the photo with the words “ You can do that on a fag box as a warning .”
The politician Tessa Ganserer, queer policy spokeswoman for the Green Party, did not put up with this and took the insults to court. The first verdict was made in April: Peter Weber, operator of the platform, had to pay 3,200 euros (40 daily rates of 80 euros each) Reason: The defendant wanted to defame the women; the “defamatory statement” was a human rights violation.
The lawsuit, part 2
The operator of the site did not like the verdict. He also believed that the women depicted were all politicians, and that politicians had to put up with more than people without office ( please insert facepalm of the author here ).
Surprise: There is no regulation that says insults to public officials are any less serious! The operator of the site also had to learn this: The Nuremberg-Fürth regional court not only rejected his appeal, but even increased the sentence significantly: He now has to pay a total of 24,000 euros (120 daily rates of 200 euros each) and is also considered to have a criminal record.
According to court spokesman Friedrich Weitner, Weber had pilloried people with his statements and reduced them to objects; the comparison with cancerous tumors, which are warned about on cigarette packs, was insulting and derogatory. It is unclear whether the entrepreneur, who appeared in court with three lawyers, will also appeal against this judgment. However, he is currently threatened with a fine of 250,000 euros or up to six months in prison if he publishes the photo with the corresponding comments again.
Conclusion
No, the verdict does not prove a restriction on freedom of expression, but rather the comments were a gross insult. It doesn't help when people are in public life and you therefore think that you can easily insult them.
Unfortunately, it is doubtful whether the ruling will lead to a polite culture of discussion on the Internet. However, it should be clear to everyone that insults can be punished under civil law - regardless of the status of the person insulted.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

