On August 3, 2023, a request for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel Cluj in Romania was formally published. The request pertains to the responsibilities and liabilities of storage and hosting information service providers in relation to online advertisements containing personal data in the case of Russmedia Digital and Inform Media Press (Case C-492/23). This case involves a dispute between the plaintiff, X, and the defendants Russmedia Digital SRL and Inform Media Press SRL. X’s claim arises from an advertisement published on a website without her consent that contained defamatory and offensive content. X alleges that Russmedia Digital SRL, as the website’s owner, is liable for the non-material harm caused by the publication.

Initially, the Court of First Instance in Cluj-Napoca ruled in favor of X, ordering Russmedia Digital SRL to pay damages. However, the Specialised Court in Cluj overturned the decision, stating that the hosting service provider was not actively involved in the content and was protected by relevant national laws. Given this context, the Court of Justice has been asked to interpret specific points of EU law. One question is whether Articles 12 to 14 of Directive 2000/31/EC apply to a hosting information service provider that allows users to publish free or paid advertisements on a website, while asserting that its role in the process is purely technical.

Other queries involve interpreting various articles of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 15 of Directive 2000/31/EC to ascertain whether the service provider, as a data controller, must verify the identity of individuals posting advertisements. Additionally, the court must consider whether the provider needs to review advertisements beforehand to prevent potentially illegal content or privacy violations.

Finally, the court is asked whether the service provider should implement safeguards to prevent or limit the reproduction and redistribution of advertisement content. These questions illustrate the challenges of balancing technology services with legal obligations regarding data protection and user privacy, emphasizing the complexities of navigating and applying existing regulations in the modern digital landscape.

The official publication is available here.