LONDON — Europe’s top court said on Thursday that individual countries can order Facebook to take down posts, photographs and videos not only in their own countries but elsewhere, in a ruling that extends the reach of the region’s internet-related laws beyond its own borders.

The European Court of Justice said Facebook could be forced to remove a post globally by a national court in the European Union’s 28-member bloc if the content was determined to be defamatory or otherwise illegal. Its decision cannot be appealed.

The ruling stemmed from a case involving an Austrian politician, Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, who sued the social network to expunge online comments that called her a “lousy traitor,” “corrupt oaf” and member of a “fascist party.” After an Austrian court found the comments violated defamation laws, she demanded Facebook erase the original comments worldwide, not just within the country, as well as posts with “equivalent” remarks.

The decision sets a new benchmark for the purview of European laws that govern the internet, giving European countries the power to apply takedown requests internationally. That foreshadows future disputes over Europe’s role in setting rules on the internet, especially as other nations increasingly pass their own laws to deal with privacy, hate speech and disinformation.