Swiss Court Orders Palantir to Pay Most Costs but Grants Right to Counterstatement on One Claim

Zurich’s commercial court ruled Friday that Palantir lost on 22 of 23 counts in its lawsuit against the Swiss magazine Republik. The court dismissed most of the company’s requests for published responses and ordered Palantir to bear 95 percent of the 9,000 Swiss francs in court costs plus 9,900 francs in Republik’s legal expenses.

The case stemmed from a December investigation by Republik and the Swiss research collective WAV.

Reporters filed dozens of freedom-of-information requests and found that Palantir, present in Switzerland for nearly four years, had not secured any government contracts. The journalists described the resulting coverage as a “failure narrative” that prompted the company’s legal action. The court determined that only one passage required a published reply.

U.S. counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Palantir stated: “We welcome that the Zurich commercial court confirmed our right to publish a counterstatement.

Jennifer Steiner, co-founder of WAV, said: “It was a lot of work and time invested. ” The articles had drawn attention across Europe, prompting British MPs and officials in other governments to question whether Palantir’s technology was necessary for them. Palantir said the Swiss government was not a significant target for its regional business growth.

The journalists had interviewed company executives and sent a full list of questions before publication, but the company demanded a detailed rebuttal that went beyond the scope of the investigation, according to the reporting.