A fake interview with a politician does not violate her personal rights; an update from the German Regional Court

The Regional Court of Hamburg addressed the question in August last year as to whether a fake interview with a German politician violates her personal rights, and ruled that: (1) whether a character is satirical is to be determined from the perspective of an unbiased and understanding audience; (2) The satirical nature of a text may result from the content of the publication itself (such as the choice of words, exaggerations, humour) as well as the accompanying context in which the text is published.

For example: the publication of a text in an online media platform under the genre “satire” or with an “almost true” label will often indicate to an unbiased reader that the text is satirical; and (3) Ambiguity is often a defining characteristic of satire and therefore does not necessarily result in satire being inadmissible.

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