Case Study on Conflict of Laws:

Yahoo! vs La Ligue Contre Le

Racisme et l’Antisémitisme

Freedom of Speech
vs Hate Speech
Professor Stephanie Gardner, J.D.
 Learning Objectives

• Yahoo!: the distinction between law and fact

• First Amendment to US Constitution
• Conflict of Laws:
- Apply principles of Conflict of Law to Yahoo!
• Free speech vs Hate speech
- Where do you stand?

Conflict of Laws 1
Yahoo! vs French League (2001 Landmark case)
Facts of the Case
The year is 2001. Yahoo.com operates an online auction site where
Nazi memorabilia have been offered for sale. In France, the display of
any objects representing symbols of Nazi ideology subjects the
person or entity displaying such objects to both criminal and civil
liability. The International League Against Racism and Anti-semitism
filed suit in Paris against Yahoo for displaying Nazi memorabilia and
offering them for sale via its web site.

The French court, in which the suit was filed, asserted jurisdiction
over the U.S. based company on the ground that the materials on the
company’s U.S. based servers could be viewed on a web site
accessible in France.
 Yahoo! (con’t): Facts of the Case
The French court ordered Yahoo to eliminate all Internet access in
France to the Nazi memorabilia offered for sale through its online
auctions.

Yahoo took the case to a federal district court in the U.S. to resolve a
larger issue: Can a foreign court dictate what will or will not appear on
a U.S. company’s website? Does such an order violate the U.S.
constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression?

Discussion: Based on the facts above,

• Group A: What arguments would help to validate Yahoo’s position?
• Group B: What arguments would strengthen The League’s
position?
 Yahoo!: Questions for your review
• What were the key arguments for Yahoo! and La Ligue in
this case?
• What was the court’s 2001 holding and the reasoning for
its decision?
• Based on the Yahoo! case study, explain what is meant by
the term “Conflict of Laws?”
• Why is this case considered a landmark case?
• Why is the Yahoo! case relevant today? Why is this
especially important from a marketing perspective?
Provide an example to illustrate your point.
A Closer Look at Freedom of Speech

Free Speech … an American obsession?

 U.S. Declaration of Independence
• Document that declared the American
colonies independent from England
• July 4, 1776

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 2

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness”
Constitution of the United States of America

• U.S. Constitution: Fundamental law of

the U.S. which was ratified by the states in
1788
– Creates three branches of government
– Protects individual rights by limiting the
government’s ability to restrict those rights

Conflict of Laws 4
 Bill of Rights
• First 10 amendments to U.S. Constitution
• Guarantees fundamental rights and protects these
rights from intrusive government action
• First Amendment: Includes freedom of speech,
freedom to assemble, freedom of the press and
freedom of religion

Conflict of Laws 5
 Freedom of Speech

• Right to engage in oral, written, and symbolic

speech protected by the First Amendment
• Categories
– Fully protected speech: Cannot be prohibited or
regulated by the government
– Exceptions: Hate Speech

Conflict of Laws 6
 Exception to First Amendment:
Hate Speech

• Dangerous speech or words that are likely to

provoke a hostile or violent response
• Speech that incites the violent or revolutionary
overthrow of the government
• Must be “likely to cause violence or harm before
it can be deemed criminal”

Conflict of Laws. 7
 Exceptions:
Other Examples of Unprotected Speech

• Defamatory language
• Child pornography
• Obscene speech

Conflict of Laws 8
 European Union Approach to
Unprotected Speech

• Speech can be prohibited even if it is only

“abusive, insulting or likely to disturb public
order”
• However, European laws on the issue are not
uniformly applied across the EU

Conflict of Laws 9
 Conflict of Laws
Also known as “Private International Law:” concerns
relations across different legal jurisdictions between
persons and sometimes companies or other legal
entities

Definition: a set of procedural rules that determine

which legal system, and the law of which jurisdiction,
applies to a given dispute

Conflict of Laws 10
 Conflict of Laws
• Yahoo! Inc vs La Ligue Contre Le Racisme et
l’Antisémitisme: US vs French laws
• Case of First Impression
• “Landmark Case”: Internet and First Amendment
Freedom of Speech & Expression
• Court’s Holding? Why?

Conflict of Laws 11
 Group Work
Working in groups, choose a country where social media is currently
blocked today/or under government restrictions (FB, Twitter, uTube,
etc).

Be ready to share your group’s findings with the class.

 Questions for your Review
i) Where do you stand on the question of censoring online
free speech? Do social media platforms owe a responsibility
to its users and the public at large to censor online speech?

ii) Where do you draw the line with hate speech, if at all?

iii) What are the most effective cultural & educational

strategies/policies that can be used at the EU and
international level to raise awareness of online hate speech?
Support your position with concrete argumentation.
 Right to Free Speech

• Stephen Colbert: Hey Kim Jong-Un: Making

Fun Of Trump Is America's Thing
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJqyVcFA
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