A medium had reported on several channels about serious marital misconduct and even an alleged “double life” of an ex-minister who had often had “home stories” published in the past. The Vienna Higher Regional Court stated that the person concerned could be assumed to have consented to the publication if “he had previously agreed to such reports about his private sphere or had advertised himself using circumstances from his private sphere”. However, the Vienna Higher Regional Court also pointed out that the voluntary disclosure of part of the private or intimate life does not allow the conclusion to be drawn that the person concerned would release their entire highly personal sphere of life for media dissemination.
In the case in question, the applicant did make “home stories” about his marriage and family life in the past in the context of his work as a politician, but this was related to the specific occasion.
