You know, it just sounded like an interesting topic to do some reading about.
So firstly, Swiss defamation law does sound a bit strict.
"Defamation remains a criminal offence in Switzerland.
The Swiss Criminal Code foresees the following offences:
Defamation (Art. 173): Accusing a person of dishonourable behaviour or similar prone to damaging that person's reputation. The act is punishable with a fine of up to 180 times the daily rate."
http://legaldb.freemedia.at/legal-database/switzerland/
However, truth is a defence:
"If the accused proves that the statement made or disseminated by him corresponds to the truth or that he had substantial grounds to hold an honest belief that it was true, he is not liable to a penalty."
https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/54/757_781_799/en#art_173
There's also a relevant case here:
"In October 2016, a court in Zurich convicted an editor with the newspaper 20 Minutes of defamation. The editor was sentenced to 30 daily fines at a rate of 180 francs. The case related to an article that appeared in 20 Minutes on Dec. 15, 2015 about clothing worn by right-wing extremists with the title "When harmless clothing becomes a provocation". The article included a photo slide show, one of which shows a band called "Frei.Wild" with the caption: "Right-wing extremist beliefs can also be more subtly transmitted, for example through T-shirts from bands such as Frei.Wild, Landser or Screwdriver". The band Frei.Wild brought criminal charges for defamation against the editor. The court ruled that while the bands Landser and Screwdriver had demonstrably right-wing extremist attitudes, the editor had thrown FreiWild "into the same pot". The court noted that the term "right-wing extremist" is to be seen as offensive to honour in Switzerland ."
http://legaldb.freemedia.at/legal-database/switzerland/
So being called a "right-wing extremist" is taken seriously by the courts...but then again there is a flip side to that. The Swiss have some interesting anti-incitement laws.
"Any person who publicly incites hatred or discrimination against a person or a group of persons on the grounds of their race, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation,
any person who publicly disseminates ideologies that have as their object the systematic denigration or defamation of that person or group of persons,
any person who with the same objective organises, encourages or participates in propaganda campaigns,
any person who publicly denigrates or discriminates against another or a group of persons on the grounds of their race, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation in a manner that violates human dignity, whether verbally, in writing or pictorially, by using gestures, through acts of aggression or by other means, or any person who on any of these grounds denies, trivialises or seeks justification for genocide or other crimes against humanity,
any person who refuses to provide a service to another on the grounds of that person's race, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation when that service is intended to be provided to the general public,
shall be liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty."
https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/54/757_781_799/en#art_261_bis
Gosh! I hope nobody we know has done anything like publicly incite hatred against a group of persons on the grounds of their race, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation, or denied, trivialised or sought justification for genocide or other crimes against humanity, whilst in Switzerland.
From a website for Swiss Jewish people:
"The anti-racism norm protects people who are discriminated, threatened or disparaged due to their skin colour, ethnicity or religion in a way that robs them of their dignity. Article 261bis of the Swiss Criminal Code prohibits specific and particularly serious forms of such discrimination in public: incitement of hatred or discrimination, systematic libel or slander, the organisation of propaganda activities, disparaging or discrimination through certain forms of behaviour — be it oral or in writing, through pictures, gestures or physical aggression — or the refusal of a service offered to the public. The denial or trivialisation of genocide or of severe crimes against humanity are also punishable offenses."
https://swissjews.ch/en/topics/antisemitism/anti-racism-norm/
In 2020 a referendum added sexual orientation to these laws as well.
From a site about Switzerland:
"Freedom of expression, so, refers to the ability of an individual or group to express their beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and emotions about different issues free from censorship. But is it an absolute right? Clearly not. A recent example was in Switzerland last year, when a referendum on the limits of free speech saw citizens vote by 63.1% to 36.9% in favour of a law banning anti-LGBT discrimination. Another referendum in 1994 already ruled that homophobia is a crime, not 'a matter of opinion'. Meanwhile, various sources and rankings that Swiss media are free from editorial and government interference; but they are expected to adhere to the penal code, which prohibits racist or anti-Semitic as well as homophobic speech."
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/freedom-of-expression--universal--but-not-absolute/46536654
Anyway, that was my short exploration of Swiss law on just some random topics. Interesting.
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