Zurich Commercial Court dismisses large majority of Palantir's lawsuit against "Republik"

According to the ruling published on Monday, which spans 80 pages, Palantir failed on 22 of 23 points. With regard to the first article, the court ruled: "Das Gegendarstellungsgesuch (...) ist vollumfänglich abzuweisen." In the case of the second article, titled "Warum Palantir zum Risiko für die Schweiz wird," the court dismissed eleven requests for a right of reply and declared one admissible.

Key points of the decision

In particular, the contested description of the software as a "tödliche Kriegswaffe" was deemed by the court to be a permissible interpretation, made on the basis of original quotes from Palantir executives. CEO Alex Karp, for instance, once stated that Palantir was there to "zu stören und nötigenfalls Feinde zu erschrecken und gelegentlich auch zu töten." A similar assessment applied to the term "Überwachungssoftware" – here too, according to the Zurich Commercial Court, it constitutes a legitimate conclusion based on functions of the products that Palantir did not even dispute.

The single point on which the court sided with the US company concerned "Republik's" claim that the Palantir software Foundry was originally developed for the United States for counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Republik" must append a right of reply to this passage, but notes at the end of the information box that the editorial team stands by its portrayal. The disputed passage on Foundry referenced the economist and social scientist Francesca Bria in "Le Monde Diplomatique."

Reactions from both sides

According to the ruling, Palantir must pay the "Republik" editorial team 9,900 Swiss francs (10,752 euros) in cost compensation. Following the announcement of the judgment, the company published a statement on its blog on Medium, emphasizing that the action was not a so-called SLAPP lawsuit intended to intimidate or suppress journalistic work. The company has since deleted the post.

"Republik" expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the proceedings and published the court documents and the full ruling. According to "Republik," the company's actions show "dass der Konzern von Meinungsfreiheit nicht zwingend eine allzu hohe Meinung hat. Und nicht davor zurückschreckt, mit dafür gar nicht vorgesehenen rechtlichen Mitteln gegen missliebige Meinungen vorzugegen." The magazine further commented: "Überhaupt scheiterte das klagende Unternehmen wiederholt an der Abgrenzung zwischen Tatsachenbehauptungen und Werturteilen oder Schlussfolgerungen. Das ist zutreffend. Allerdings enthielt unsere groß angelegte Recherche zahlreiche Fakten, die zu einer kritischen Beurteilung des Tech-Konzerns einladen. Von diesen Fakten hat Palantir die allermeisten gar nicht erst gegendarzustellen versucht."

Possible appeal

It is the first time that Palantir has taken legal action against journalistic reporting. The ruling is not yet final; Palantir may file an appeal with the Swiss Federal Court within 30 days.