In most Western countries, ISPs are required to remove illegal material from their servers as soon as they become aware of it; but they are not required to actively police their servers.
Tele2’s lawyer, Erling O. Lyngtveidt, told AP: “This case asks the question of whether a technical provider can be held responsible for what thousands of people all over the world put on their news server.” His company will challenge the fine in court later this year.
Norwegian economic crime police said that the illegal material was available for a long period of time to a large number of people, arguing that the company could have used tighter controls to stop its spread.