Legal basis
The right of reply is enshrined in many jurisdictions. In Switzerland it is regulated under Art. 28g–28l Civil Code (Fedlex). In Spain the Organic Law 2/1984 on the right of rectification (BOE) applies. CITA News voluntarily grants the right of reply also where it is not legally compulsory, provided the request is substantiated and factual.
Who may request a right of reply
Any natural or legal person named or clearly identifiable in an article who considers a specific factual statement to violate their personality rights.
What may be requested
A published reply: a short response to a specific factual statement the requester considers incorrect. The reply must concern facts, not opinions.
A correction if there is a factual error. Corrections are published on the Corrections page and at the end of the affected article.
How to file a request
By email to info@cita.news with the following:
- Name and contact address of the requester
- URL of the article concerned
- Exact wording of the contested statement (quote from the article)
- Proposed reply (max. 500 characters)
- Reasoning why the original statement is incorrect (with evidence where possible)
Processing time
We confirm receipt within 48 hours. We decide on acceptance or reasoned rejection within 7 working days. An accepted reply is published within a further 5 working days at the end of the affected article.
Grounds for rejection
Requests may be rejected if:
- the contested statement is an opinion, not a factual claim
- the original statement is supported by publicly available sources
- the proposed reply itself contains incorrect statements
- the proposed reply is offensive, criminal or manifestly disproportionate
- more than 60 days have passed since publication and the requester could have raised the matter earlier
External complaints body
Readers who disagree with our response can contact the Swiss Press Council. It is the recognised independent complaints body for German-language media; we apply its standards across all four CITA News languages.