> Jolanda Spiess – Media law, personality rights protection, strategic litigation. Landmark ruling 2025: Profit disgorgement against Ringier. Author. Founder #NetzCourage.

*Canonical URL: https://www.jolandaspiess.ch/en/index.html*

## Context

![Jolanda Spiess](../img/jolanda-spiess.jpg)

Swiss media corporations will no longer be able to avoid returning profits generated from campaigns that violate personality rights.

The ruling Jolanda Spiess secured against Ringier is not yet legally binding. However, endless tabloid smear campaigns, as experienced first-hand, are a thing of the past now that it is clear profits can be reclaimed retroactively.

How painful this decision is for the media industry, which has never distanced itself from its lucrative tabloid operations, is demonstrated by the ongoing attempts to discredit and defame Jolanda Spiess through cross-corporation measures. A journalist who conducted a "research project" on the Zug Landammann reception "on behalf of" Tamedia has since been convicted of defamation – knowingly lying and deliberately making false claims – multiple times in two instances (second instance, not final).

Proceedings against the Tamedia author and against various internet fringe figures who have united in media-fuelled hatred against Jolanda Spiess are still ongoing. Peace will likely only come once the profit disgorgement proceedings, which continue to drag on due to delaying tactics particularly by the media corporations, are concluded or a genuine settlement is reached.

Engagement, recognition, and new paths

For her commitment against hate speech and the founding of the organization **#NetzCourage**, Jolanda Spiess was awarded the Ida Somazzi Prize and the FemBizSwiss Award in 2021. Today she advises victims of media power abuse through **Winkelried & Töchter GmbH** and develops smart tools for legal documentation, research, and analysis – including for law firms. When she is not conducting proceedings, she cheers with her family for VfL Bochum – a club that never gives up.

Anyone engaged in a public and legal confrontation with the largest Swiss media houses cannot expect fair coverage of themselves or the ongoing proceedings. Those seeking an overview of the details of the individual proceedings, rulings, and documents can find them in the updated [case dossiers](#cases) below.

![Meistgeklickt – Jolanda Spiess-Hegglin, Limmat Verlag 2024](../img/meistgeklickt.jpg)

## Meistgeklickt

Protocol of a system failure. It began with a headline. Millions of clicks and advertising revenue for media corporations followed.

The book documents how tabloid and quality media work hand in hand and describes the legal strategy of profit disgorgement.

[Get the book →](https://www.buchhaus.ch/de/buecher/fachbuecher/geschichte/schweiz/detail/ISBN-9783039260836/Spiess-Hegglin-Jolanda/Meistgeklickt)

## Cases

Systemic legal proceedings[Ringier AG / BlickOver 150 articles of a media campaign against a single person.
Severe personality rights violation established by the court, Blick apology
on the front page. For the first time in Switzerland, a media corporation is
ordered to return profits from personality-violating reporting.
Ringier's appeal pending. Campaign lawsuit for the remaining articles in preparation.](cases/ringier-blick.html)
[ECtHR ProceedingsCantonal Court Zug grants the request for provisional measures and confirms
the publication ban. High Court overturns it. Federal Supreme Court declines
to hear the appeal. Complaint to the European Court of Human Rights – Switzerland
has submitted its position. At the center: May a person's intimate privacy
be declared public property simply because media have disseminated it for years?](cases/egmr.html)
[Tamedia / BinswangerMultiple conviction for defamation in two instances. Second conviction by penal order,
then acquittal, now pending at the High Court. Ongoing civil lawsuit for
nearly 200 personality-violating book passages and profit disgorgement.
The complex extends across four legal levels up to the Federal Supreme Court and the ECtHR.](cases/tamedia-binswanger.html)
[Cyberstalking and media hate connectionsOver a dozen proceedings against systematic cyberstalking,
pornography and the illegal publication of intimate data.
Coercion. House searches, arrests, contact bans, convictions.](cases/cyberstalking.html)
[Weltwoche / Deputy EditorConviction in two instances for defamation.
Documentation of how confidential investigation files were
politically instrumentalized and published in coordination with
an accused person.](cases/weltwoche.html)

## Timeline

[2026Cyberstalker's Civil Lawsuit Dismissed in FullZug Cantonal Court dismisses the convicted stalker's civil lawsuit in full. Attempted perpetrator-victim reversal fails. Court confirms the right of stalking victims to publicly report documented violence. All costs imposed on the plaintiff.](cases/cyberstalking.html#perpetrator-victim-reversal)
[2025Profit Disgorgement Blick – Landmark RulingRingier AG ordered to return profits from personality rights violations. For the first time in Swiss legal history.](cases/ringier-blick.html)
[2025Tamedia Journalist – Defamation Confirmed in Two InstancesBasel-Stadt Court of Appeal confirms the defamation conviction. Case now pending at the Federal Supreme Court.](cases/tamedia-binswanger.html)
[2025SRF Documentary: Hate OnlineDocumentary by Eveline Falk on digital violence and the legal fight against it.](https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/-/video/-?urn=urn:srf:video:daaae96b-2e73-45db-ac0e-c7a8d2bddc07)
[2024Meistgeklickt – Book PublicationProtocol of a system failure. Limmat Verlag. Documentation of the mechanisms behind media personality rights violations.](https://www.buchhaus.ch/de/buecher/fachbuecher/geschichte/schweiz/detail/ISBN-9783039260836/Spiess-Hegglin-Jolanda/Meistgeklickt)
[2025Shameleaks Civil Trial WonHinwil District Court rules in the civil trial on the illegal publication of intimate data in favor of Spiess-Hegglin.](cases/cyberstalking.html)
[2025Penal Order Solothurn – DefamationSecond criminal conviction of the Tages-Anzeiger journalist for defamation in an Aktivradio interview.](cases/tamedia-binswanger.html)
[2024Cyberstalker ConvictionsPfäffikon District Court convicts both main perpetrators of pornography, defamation, and violation of court orders.](cases/cyberstalking.html)
[2024Swiss Government's Observations to the ECtHRSwitzerland submits 21 pages of observations on the complaint. The Federal Council defends the Federal Supreme Court's non-entry and requests dismissal – but concedes that Art. 6 ECHR (access to court) is applicable to the proceedings.](cases/egmr.html)
[2024ECtHR Communicates Complaint to SwitzerlandThe ECtHR officially communicates the complaint to the Swiss government and submits a questionnaire: including whether access to the Federal Supreme Court was arbitrarily denied and whether the right to private life (Art. 8 ECHR) was violated.](cases/egmr.html)
[2022Complaint Filed with ECtHRComplaint filed with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on the protection of intimate privacy – in particular, whether Switzerland arbitrarily denied access to justice.](cases/egmr.html)2022Federal Supreme Court – Non-Entry (BGE 5A_824/2021)Federal Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal on the grounds that the appellant had «not said a word» about the irreparable harm – even though this had been addressed on six pages. A [legal article](https://www.sjz.ch/de/artikel/2504-0650-2022-0133/bundesgericht-urteil-5a8242021-vom-25-januar-2022) by Schulthess/Aeschimann/Cottinelli (AJP 09/2022) assesses the non-entry as «overly formalistic» – the harm was «patently obvious», the adjudication of the substantive questions unjustifiably refused.[2021High Court Zug Lifts Preliminary InjunctionHigh Court Zug lifts the preliminary injunction against the personality-violating publication. Appeal filed with the Federal Supreme Court.](cases/egmr.html)
[2020Blick Apology and High Court RulingHigh Court confirms «severe» intimate privacy violation. Ringier accepts. Blick apologizes on the front page.](cases/ringier-blick.html)
[2020Cantonal Court Zug – Confirmation DecisionZug Cantonal Court confirms the preliminary injunction in the ordinary proceedings (ES 2020 222, 3 September 2020). The publication ban protecting personality rights is maintained.](cases/egmr.html)
[2020Cantonal Court Zug – Preliminary InjunctionSingle judge at Zug Cantonal Court grants the request for provisional measures against the personality-violating book publication and issues orders to protect personality rights (4 May 2020).](cases/egmr.html)
[2017Weltwoche Deputy Editor ConvictedConviction for defamation in two instances. Instrumentalization of confidential files documented.](cases/weltwoche.html)2016Founding of #NetzCourageJolanda Spiess founds the association #NetzCourage, which supports victims of digital violence and advocates for education and prevention.

## Reception & Factual Basis

### Press Voices

> A devastating analysis of Swiss tabloid media

[SRF4 News / SRF Kultur](https://www.srf.ch/kultur/gesellschaft-religion/buch-meistgeklickt-rufmord-per-klick-jolanda-spiess-hegglins-kampf-um-gerechtigkeit)
> The woman who brought tabloids to account

[Der Standard, 2025](https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000251375/die-frau-die-den-boulevard-zu-mehr-anstand-brachte)
> Who invented it?

[taz.de, 2025](https://taz.de/Wer-hats-erfunden/!1090573/)
> Media-political bombshell

[WOZ, 2025](https://www.woz.ch/taeglich/2025/01/27/spiess-hegglin-vs-ringier-medienpolitischer-paukenschlag)

### Factual Basis: Events of 2014

All criminal investigations against Jolanda Spiess in connection with the events of 2014 were discontinued. The then freshly elected Zug cantonal councillor could assume she was a victim of a sexual offense. Even if there is no perpetrator from a legal perspective. Spiess-Hegglin has assumed from the beginning – since her police interview at Christmas 2014 – that both parties involved were victims. More on this can be found in her book [*Meistgeklickt*](https://www.buchhaus.ch/de/buecher/fachbuecher/geschichte/schweiz/detail/ISBN-9783039260836/Spiess-Hegglin-Jolanda/Meistgeklickt) (Limmat Verlag, 2024).

### Media Coverage (Selection)

- [SRF Documentary: Hate Online, 2025](https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/-/video/-?urn=urn:srf:video:daaae96b-2e73-45db-ac0e-c7a8d2bddc07)
- [Republik: Obsessive, July 2025](https://www.republik.ch/2025/07/16/am-gericht-obsessiv)
- [SRF: Victory for Spiess-Hegglin, 2025](https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/urteil-kantonsgericht-zug-sieg-fuer-spiess-hegglin-ringier-muss-hohen-gewinn-herausgeben)
- [Der Standard: Tabloids to Account, 2025](https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000251375/die-frau-die-den-boulevard-zu-mehr-anstand-brachte)
- [taz: Who Invented It?, 2025](https://taz.de/Wer-hats-erfunden/!1090573/)
- [Übermedien Podcast: Holger Ruft An, 2025](https://uebermedien.de/102210/wie-setzt-man-sich-gegen-eine-jahrelange-schmutzkampagne-von-medien-zur-wehr/)
- [Annabelle: I Was Clickbait, 2024](https://www.annabelle.ch/leben/jolanda-spiess-hegglin-ueber-ihr-neues-buch-ich-war-clickbait/)
- [ARD Tagesschau: Ruling Against Tabloid, 2025](https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/schweiz-urteil-boulevard-journalismus-medien-100.html)
- [FAZ: Compensation After Tabloid Campaign, 2025](https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/schweiz-entschaedigung-fuer-gruenenpolitikerin-nach-boulevardkampagne-110257656.html)
- [Süddeutsche Zeitung: Precedent, 2025](https://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/ringier-urteil-jolanda-spiess-hegglin-praezedenzfall-li.3189051)
- [Die Zeit: Profit Disgorgement, 2025](https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2025-01/jolanda-spiess-hegglin-blick-ringier-gewinnherausgabe-schweiz-gerichtsprozess)
- [Deutschlandfunk: Media Character Assassination, 2025](https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/medialer-rufmord-der-fall-der-schweizer-politikerin-jolanda-spiess-hegglin-dlf-14e9f975-100.html)
- [SRF Tagesschau: Meistgeklickt, 2024](https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/-/video/-?urn=urn:srf:video:48fe4ff4-8f89-4e56-802e-6ed9d6aa9fda)
- [P.S. Zeitung: A Media Lesson, 2024](https://www.pszeitung.ch/buch/ein-medienlehrstueck/)
- [diffamierung.net: A Question of Resilience, 2025](https://diffamierung.net/eine-frage-der-resilienz-zum-buch-meistgeklickt-von-jolanda-spiess-hegglin/)
- [Republik: The Destruction Machine, 2021](https://www.republik.ch/2021/08/06/die-zerstoerungs-maschine)

## Contact

For media inquiries, legal collaboration, or speaking engagements.

[Get in touch →](mailto:hallo@jolandaspiess.ch)