How strong are European libel laws?
I'd say it very much depends on which country you're in. Trying to get a substantial amount from a newspaper for libel would be very difficult in Belgium. I think part of the reason for that is that in our legal system we have chosen to really protect journalists, who have a societal role to fulfill in publishing news and we have deemed that role to outweigh many of the private intrests of for example professional football players. Another part of the reason is that we have very few, if any, actual tabloids. We have trashy newspapers, but they tend to just republish news that has already been published by other sources. Our better newspapers and magazines might have their own investigative reporters, but they are very apprehensive of choosing sides. Finally our courts also tend to downplay reputational damage. Even if you'd succeed in everything else, they'd probably only award a very small compensation.
England on the other hand has a very real and substantial problem with tabloids. They also became widely unpopular after Diana Spencer's death. I think it would be much easier for a celebrity to get a good verdict there.
I don't know what it is like in Germany though.
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Peter Thiel was the driving force behind that. He had the money and influence to actually take that to court and eventually bring Gawker down. Not to mention it was tried in the USA. Very interesting story that was.
Very dark story too.