Overview

• Landgericht Frankfurt granted urgent injunctions prohibiting Axel Springer’s Bild from publishing photos and first names of three Somali asylum seekers.
• The court found that the tabloid’s reporting imposed a continuing severe violation of personality rights by stigmatizing the asylum seekers online.
• Bild said it had not received formal notification of the rulings and signaled it would examine legal remedies if notified.
• The three Somalis had earlier overturned their June return at the German-Polish border after the Berlin Administrative Court ruled the pushbacks unlawful.
• Pro Asyl and the asylum seekers’ lawyer described the injunction as a necessary check on journalistic excess and warned of the harm caused by identifying coverage.