A meme on Facebook falsely attributing a quote to Renate Kunast claimed Germans should learn Turkish; Kunast says she never made such a statement.

The original meme was removed, but the dispute centers on Meta’s duty to locate and remove similar posts and whether Meta can be held liable under EU law for such content.

Kunast, a Green politician, seeks an injunction and at least €10,000 in damages, arguing that a private individual cannot manually search for all copies of the content worldwide.

End-2025 ECJ ruling held online marketplaces must pre-screen ads with sensitive data and prevent unlawful copying, prompting the German court to assess applicability to Kunast’s case against Meta.

The case references EU-wide rulings and ECJ decisions on online marketplaces and data handling; the German Federal Court of Justice is awaiting ECJ guidance on applicability to Kunast’s matter.

Earlier ECJ rulings found marketplaces responsible for personal data in listings and pre-screening to stop sensitive data from spreading, raising questions about these rulings’ applicability to Meta.

The outcome will clarify platform responsibilities for handling repeated or semantically identical misinformation and how proactive removal weighs against hosting-provider duties.

Case reference VI ZR 64/24.

In 2024 the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt upheld Kunast’s right to a cease-and-desist but denied damages; proceedings and injunctions have been part of a longer arc.

Subsequent rulings maintained the injunction right while withholding damages, with the BGH delaying EU-wide questions awaiting ECJ guidance.

Künast vs. Meta asks the ECJ to clarify questions on online content moderation and platform liability under EU law.

Kunast seeks to halt the spread of materially similar variants and damages, arguing that an individual cannot manually search for all copies globally.