Bergneustadt (dpa / lnw) – In Bergneustadt (Oberbergischer Kreis), a man was attacked on the street after he had been wrongly defamed on the internet. A photo of the man was published on a social network at the beginning of the week with the false claim that it was a convicted pedophile, the police said on Wednesday. The post was quickly deleted at the instigation of the police. A day after the post appeared, an unknown attacked the man. A friend of the victim who intervened suffered minor injuries. The attacker escaped.
In view of the case, the police expressly pointed out that the publication of defamatory posts can have consequences under criminal and civil law in addition to the consequences for those directly affected. The same applies to users who share such content.