Austria Defamation Laws: Civil, Criminal & Defences

In Austria, defamation is both a criminal offence and a civil wrong. The Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB) punishes defamation, insult, and false denunciation under sections 111, 115, and 297, while the Civil Code (ABGB) section 1330 and the Media Act (Mediengesetz) let the person harmed recover compensation, a correction, and an injunction.

Is defamation civil, criminal, or both in Austria?

It is both. Austria treats attacks on personal honour as criminal offences and as civil wrongs at the same time. The Criminal Code groups the honour offences mainly in sections 111 to 117 StGB, with section 111 (üble Nachrede, defamation), section 115 (Beleidigung, insult), and section 297 (Verleumdung, false denunciation) being the core provisions. Separately, section 1330 of the Civil Code (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, ABGB) lets a person sue for damages and a retraction, and the Media Act (Mediengesetz) gives an additional compensation claim against the owner of a medium that publishes defamatory matter. Because of this layering, a single false statement can expose the speaker to a private criminal prosecution, a civil suit under ABGB 1330, and a Media Act compensation claim against the publisher.

What counts as criminal defamation under the StGB?

Austrian law distinguishes factual accusations from mere insults. Section 111 StGB (üble Nachrede) applies where a person accuses another, in a way perceptible to a third party, of possessing a contemptible characteristic or disposition or of dishonourable or immoral conduct that could lower them in public esteem. The basic penalty is imprisonment for up to six months or a fine of up to 360 daily units. Where the defamation is committed in print, by broadcast, or by another means making it accessible to a wide public, the penalty rises to imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 720 daily units. Section 115 StGB (Beleidigung) covers insulting, mocking, mistreating, or threatening a person in front of at least three other people, and carries up to three months in prison or a fine of up to 180 daily units.

A related offence sitting outside this honour chapter, section 152 StGB (Kreditschädigung), protects economic standing rather than personal honour. It punishes asserting untrue facts that damage or endanger someone's credit, earnings, or professional advancement, with imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 360 daily units. Like sections 111 and 115, it is prosecuted only at the request of the injured party, and Austrian legal practice extends it to businesses as well as individuals, since a company has no personal honour of its own but does have a protectable credit standing.

Watch out: A daily-unit fine (Tagessatz) is calculated from the offender's income, so the headline number of units is multiplied by a daily rate set by the court, which means the cash total can be substantial.

What about knowingly false denunciation under section 297?

Section 297 StGB (Verleumdung) is the most serious honour-related offence and, unlike sections 111 and 115, it is prosecuted by the state rather than by the victim. It covers knowingly and falsely accusing another person of having committed a criminal offence or of breaching an official duty, where that exposes the person to the risk of official prosecution. Although the German word Verleumdung is often used loosely to mean reputational defamation, in Austria's own statute it names this narrower false-accusation-of-a-crime offence, protecting the administration of justice rather than personal honour; Austria's reputational defamation offence is section 111 (üble Nachrede) above.

The penalty is imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 720 daily units. Where the false accusation relates to an offence carrying a prison term of more than one year, the penalty rises to imprisonment of six months to five years. A separate provision, section 297(2), removes punishment altogether where the accuser voluntarily eliminates the danger of an official investigation before any authority has taken action against the person falsely accused. Because section 297 requires that the accuser act in the knowledge that the accusation is false, an honest but mistaken complaint generally does not fall within it.

What defences and privileges apply?

Truth and good faith are central. For section 111, proof that the asserted fact is true (Wahrheitsbeweis) generally defeats liability, and the speaker may also escape liability for a non-public statement by showing sufficient grounds to believe the accusation true. Austrian courts, following the European Court of Human Rights in Lingens v. Austria, distinguish provable facts from value judgments and allow wider criticism of politicians and public figures than of private individuals. Under the Media Act, a media owner generally avoids compensation where the report concerned a matter of overriding public interest and the journalist, observing proper journalistic diligence, had good grounds to believe the statement true. There is also protection for accurate reporting of official proceedings and statements.

What remedies and damages are available?

Civil remedies run on two tracks. Under ABGB 1330(1), a person who suffers actual loss or lost earnings through an injury to honour can claim compensation, and under ABGB 1330(2) a person whose credit, income, or livelihood is endangered by the spreading of untrue facts can claim damages and a public retraction. Separately, section 6 of the Media Act gives a person depicted as the subject of defamation, insult, mockery, or slander in a medium a compensation claim against the media owner once the objective elements are established. Section 8 of the Media Act sets the amount by the scope, publication value, and effects of the publication, such as the reach of the medium and, for websites, the number of users who accessed it. In force since 1 January 2021, section 8 sets a floor of 100 euros and a general ceiling of 40,000 euros, rising to 100,000 euros only under sections 6, 7, or 7c, and only where the publication had particularly serious effects and the media owner or its staff acted with gross negligence or intent. Sources quoting compensation caps of 20,000 or 50,000 euros describe the law as it stood before 1 January 2021 and are no longer current. ABGB damages remain compensatory rather than capped.

What is the limitation period?

For civil claims under ABGB 1330, the general three-year limitation period applies, running from when the injured person becomes aware of the damage and the identity of the person responsible. A compensation claim under the Media Act must be brought within a much shorter window, generally six months from the publication. On the criminal side, a private prosecution for the honour offences must be initiated within the statutory time limits for the relevant offence, and the injured person should act promptly because private-prosecution honour offences carry short deadlines to press charges. Because the deadlines differ across the criminal, civil, and media-law tracks, the timing of each route should be checked separately.

How is online defamation treated?

The StGB, ABGB, and Media Act rules all apply to statements made online, including on social media, in reviews, and in comment sections. A defamatory post that is accessible to a wide public can satisfy the aggravated form of section 111 StGB. Austria has also strengthened protection against online abuse through the "Hass im Netz" (hate online) reforms, which improved civil injunction procedures and made it easier for victims to obtain takedowns and to identify anonymous posters. On the civil side, a person harmed can seek removal and an injunction, and platform and host liability can arise once a provider is notified of clearly unlawful content.

Watch out: Sharing or forwarding someone else's defamatory post can itself amount to disseminating the statement, which can trigger liability separate from the original author.

How do you bring a defamation claim in Austria?

There are several routes, often combined. For sections 111, 115, and 152, the injured person files a private prosecution (Privatanklage) directly with the criminal court, since these are not pursued by the public prosecutor. For section 297, the matter is reported to police or the prosecutor, who prosecute it as a state offence. On the civil side, the claimant sues in the ordinary civil courts under ABGB 1330 for damages, a retraction, and an injunction, and a separate compensation claim under section 6 of the Media Act can be brought against the media owner. Many claimants pursue a Media Act claim and a private prosecution together. This is general information about Austrian law, not legal advice for any specific dispute.

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