A promotional video published by FP in 2018, in which two animated characters named “Ali” and “Mustafa” were accused of misusing e-cards, was discriminatory and therefore illegal according to the Constitutional Court (VfGH), reports the “Standard” (weekend edition). The video aims “primarily to accuse a group of ‘strangers’ of socially harmful behavior across the board,” according to the reasoning of the highest court.
The video with fez-wearing “Ali”, who wants to be treated at the dentist with his cousin “Mustafa’s” e-card, promoted the FP initiative for e-cards with a passport photo. This should prevent “those who have not paid insurance from cheating their way into our social system,” explained the then Social Affairs Minister Beate Hartinger-Klein (FP) in the spot, which was broadcast on FP’s own channel “FP-TV” and on was shown to Facebook.
According to the “Standard” report, the media authority Komm Austria had already determined in 2019 that the video violated the AV Media Services Act (AMD-G) due to discrimination. The decision was then essentially confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court, which limited the discrimination to ethnic origin. The Constitutional Court has now determined that the decision of the Federal Administrative Court was constitutional and did not infringe freedom of expression.
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