One of the ways in which defamatory information about a person is disseminated is through the use of the media and the Internet. Liability for libel on the Internet is provided for in Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code. The basis for bringing the guilty person to justice is the dissemination of false information about a person that hurt his dignity and honor. In addition, the identity of the victim must be discredited in the eyes of other people.
What does “slander” mean on the Internet?
When information that does not correspond to reality is disseminated on the global network or on the pages of the media, this is understood as slander. Sources of false information may be:
- radio broadcasts;
- TV shows;
- printed publications;
- documentary programs.
The information disseminated varies greatly. The perpetrator can report on the character of the victim, his personal qualities, religious or political views, etc. A mandatory feature of slander, as a criminal act, is its communication to a third party or an indefinite circle of people.
In the case where such information was communicated only to the person affected, this cannot be considered as distribution. At the same time, it is imperative to take into account that the distributor takes all necessary measures to keep such information secret.
Distinctive features of the act
The consequences that arise as a result of the dissemination of slanderous information have a wide public resonance, as the masses discuss the information received, and a person’s reputation is undermined.
It is worth noting that slander that is spread through the media is quite difficult to prove. This is due to the fact that the information is prepared in such a way as to avoid the possibility of challenge in a judicial body.
Publications, as a rule, have the nature of an order, so they include provisions that reduce the likelihood of distinguishing false information from true information.
Attention! The media have the right not to indicate the source from which the information was obtained, leaving it anonymous.
How can I get compensation?
There are two possibilities for receiving compensation:
- judicially;
- in a pre-trial manner.
It is quite easy to obtain compensation in court. To do this, it is necessary to collect a full range of evidence confirming the presence of moral or material harm.
In the future, the collection of compensation after the court has made a decision is carried out by bailiffs - executors.
In pre-trial proceedings, the likelihood of collecting compensation is minimal . This can only happen in a situation where a specific organization engaged in the dissemination of mass information has independently admitted its mistake and is ready to compensate for the damage.
If information about a minor is disseminated
When spreading slander against persons under eighteen years of age, the Internet is most often used.
The cause of the spread may be conflict between teenagers. In practice, there are rarely cases when adults spread slander against minors. Depending on who committed the act, the procedure for bringing to justice depends on:
- If a person has reached 18 years of age, then the Criminal or Administrative Codes apply.
- When the perpetrator is under 16 years of age, he cannot be held liable for libel.
How to exercise the right to defense
Where to go to protect your dignity or business reputation depends solely on the wishes of the victim. If an apology and refutation of the slander are enough for him, then he should file a claim in a civil court, and in case of a dispute between organizations, in an arbitration court. To bring the perpetrator to criminal responsibility, you must contact the police with a corresponding statement. Examples of application forms can be viewed at this link.
Legal entities and citizens have the opportunity to seek legal protection in court in case of publication of false information in the media that harms business reputation or dignity, and to demand a refutation of slander.
Punishment
Liability for libel is provided for in Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The culprit faces a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles or compulsory labor for up to 160 hours. If the slander was contained in a public speech or in the media or was publicly demonstrated, the fine increases to 1 million rubles. Compulsory work applies for up to 240 hours. If your official position was used during distribution, the fine is 2 million, and compulsory work is 360 hours. If information is disseminated that a person suffers from a disease that is dangerous to others, or that a person has committed a crime of a sexual nature, he is punishable by fines of up to 3 million or compulsory labor for up to 480 hours.
The most severe punishment is applied in the case of dissemination of information about the commission of a serious or especially serious crime. The culprit is punishable by a fine of up to 5 million rubles or compulsory labor of up to 480 hours.
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Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation dated June 13, 1996 N 63-FZ (as amended on February 19, 2018)
What responsibility does the media have?
First of all, we need to talk about financial responsibility, namely fines and compensation. The fine is applied within the framework of criminal and administrative liability.
Moral compensation is a civil law concept. Its collection is carried out regardless of the collection of penalties.
Additional measures of liability may include the liquidation of an organization disseminating mass information. If we are talking about individuals - journalists, media managers, then they can be deprived of their liberty under criminal liability .
Prosecution
A situation may arise when the law does not provide for the possibility of bringing to justice the resource where false information was posted.
In this case, questions regarding the falsity or legality of the information presented are resolved by contacting the resource administrator. When the portal administration refuses to make changes to previously published material, the victim has the right to send a statement of claim to bring the perpetrator to punishment to a judicial authority. Difficulties may arise because, as a rule, the information is provided anonymously. Problems also arise regarding the collection of evidence.
Advice! Lawyers advise that you first send a counter publication where false information was previously posted.
How does attraction happen?
According to the general rule, an application for libel is filed in the magistrate's court. This is due to the fact that this category of cases refers to cases of private prosecution. The application is considered by the judge of the district where the incident occurred. The applicant has the right to apply directly to the judicial authority, bypassing other authorities, and put forward an initiative aimed at bringing to justice the person who insulted the victim.
Nuances
The difficulties that victims in this category of cases may encounter are related to the difficulty of solving them.
Judicial practice in situations where an editor is found guilty is minimal. Victims, first of all, when this crime is committed against them, strive to protect their rights that were violated, regain their good name and restore authority among colleagues, and regain the favor of loved ones and relatives.
Consultation with lawyers on the law on fake news
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The State Duma adopted bills on fake news and disrespect for power in the third, key reading. After sharp criticism, the bills were amended. Online media and citizens were given the “right to make mistakes,” but the maximum fines increased tenfold - both for “fake news” and for insulting authorities.
For the second reading, amendments were made to the bill on fake news, which introduce a preliminary notification procedure for registered online media. Within its framework, they will be able to independently delete unreliable socially significant information within 24 hours - and not be blocked.
Other sites and user accounts may be blocked immediately. The law does not apply to “traditional media” - newspapers, television channels, radio stations - and news aggregators.
For the latter, according to the author of the amendments, head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy Leonid Levin, “there is significant administrative liability for failure to comply with Roskomnadzor’s order on the dissemination of false information” (quote from RIA Novosti).
At the State Duma meeting, 322 deputies voted for the document, 78 were against it.
Similar amendments have been made to the bill on sanctions for offensive publications about society and state symbols, which are equated to petty hooliganism.
This document also included clarifying wording, according to which the information to be blocked “must not only show clear disrespect and appear in an indecent form, but must offend human dignity and public morality.”
327 deputies voted for this bill, 40 were against, and one abstained.
The Federation Council, according to the chairman of the committee on constitutional legislation Andrei Klishas, will consider both documents at a meeting on Wednesday, March 13. If the upper house supports the bills, they will go to the president for signature.
Criminal proceedings
This category of cases is initiated as a private prosecution.
In this case, the appeal is sent to the magistrate's court. The victim needs to prepare a base that will be of an evidentiary nature. It is possible to conduct the following examinations within the framework of the case:
- linguistic;
- psychological and linguistic.
The examination can only be entrusted to those specialists who have been certified by the Chamber of Forensic Experts. It is worth noting that a commission is created that conducts an examination; one expert cannot do this.
The criteria by which the expert is provided with information about the crime:
- the presence of negative information regarding the victim;
- in what form the false information is expressed: assessment or statement;
- whether the slander applies to the one who spread it.
The conclusion made by the experts will be used as the basis for the verdict, as well as the testimony of eyewitnesses and the opinion of the victim.
Case investigation, evidence
Representatives of a special police department called “K” control criminal activity on the Internet.
Cases of libel spread on the Internet and the media are quite difficult to investigate. During the investigation, actions are taken to find evidence. When guilt is proven, a letter is sent to the management of the portal where the false information is posted, outlining the requirements for blocking the account of the person who provided this information. When a judge has established the fact of slander, the editor or administrator must remove the defamatory information from the resource.
The following is considered as evidence:
- materials that are in written form;
- evidence that the information disseminated is false;
- screenshots of pages that were distributed on the Internet;
- witness statements.
Klishas bills
In mid-December 2022, two bills were introduced to the State Duma. The first introduces fines for the media for publishing fake news. The second is punishment of up to 15 days of arrest for distributing information on the Internet that “expresses in an indecent form a clear disrespect” for society, the state, official symbols and authorities.
The bills were initiated by the head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, Andrei Klishas, and supported by several other senators and deputies. The authors proposed blocking out-of-court Internet resources with both fake news and disrespectful reviews of the authorities. The decision should be made at the level of the Prosecutor General or his deputies.
The government provided positive feedback on both bills, but asked for clarification of some language.
Both bills were adopted in the first reading on January 24. By the second, significant changes were made to the documents - in particular, fines increased.
Political scientists explain the increase in fines for the second reading as an initiative “from the very top.” “The authorities are confident that they will be trolled and insulted. She is confident that low fines will not stop the unbridled initiative of the masses and rudeness,” political scientist Andrei Kolyadin told Vedomosti.
What to do if you are slandered
Initially, the victim needs to photograph, scan or otherwise preserve evidence that the defamatory information was disseminated. Then a statement is filed with the police or the magistrate's court. Available evidence is attached to it.
Contacting the police
Protecting one's dignity may involve filing a complaint with law enforcement agencies, including the police.
It is recommended to submit such a report when the attacker is not known to the victim. The police conduct an investigation aimed at identifying the culprit and after that the material is transferred for consideration to the magistrate's court. If these signs are present, a criminal case is initiated, during which the authorized person must prove the fact of committing an unlawful act.
After completing the preliminary investigation stage, the case is transferred to the court, where the perpetrator is sentenced.
Slander on YouTube
When a person finds out that false information about him is presented on the YouTube portal, he has the right to apply to a judicial authority with a claim for infringement of dignity and honor.
If the court makes a positive decision, the victim contacts the site administration with demands to remove the posted information. The claim may include claims addressed to the person who disseminated false information.
Attention! When the guilt of the person who disseminated the information is proven, the relevant information is sent to the site administration to block the account or account of the culprit.
Is it possible to remove slander on Yandex
The law stipulates that it is impossible to hold a website responsible for publishing false information.
Removing false information from search programs is quite difficult and sometimes even impossible. Yandex initially warns its users that it is not responsible for the content and quality of the information presented on the site.
Will it be possible to block “someone else’s” website?
In order to block a site where false information is disseminated, you need to file a claim with a judicial authority.
Blocking a site will be easier than publishing a refutation of previously posted slander. You need to contact the district court, drawing up a statement detailing the situation that has arisen. It is also necessary to collect evidence.
Attention! You need to go to court at the place where the resource is registered. If such information is not available, the application is submitted at the place of registration of the plaintiff.
Extrajudicial proceedings with the media
As noted above, out-of-court proceedings, as a rule, lead nowhere, however, this type of proceedings is possible.
This occurs by sending complaints both to the organization involved in the dissemination of mass information and to other government agencies. These may include:
- Prosecutor's office.
- Rospotrebnadzor.
- Roskomnadzor.
The procedure for considering received appeals is enshrined in the Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens in the Russian Federation.”
In a situation where pre-trial proceedings did not lead to any result and there was no impact on the media, the citizen has the right to continue the proceedings in court.
How to demand a retraction
In a situation where it has been discovered that the media are disseminating information discrediting honor, dignity and business reputation, a citizen has the right to demand a refutation of this.
Refutation occurs through mass media dissemination of information. This happens in the same way that the defamatory information was disseminated. For example, in a newspaper, on TV news, on live radio.
In order to demand a refutation , you must write a written complaint addressed to the head of the media outlet. The claim must contain:
- name of the media body;
- indication of the applicant;
- an indication of widespread defamatory information and the method of doing so (on TV, on the website, on the radio, etc.);
- request for refutation;
- date and signature.
Important: a written response must be given to a claim within the established time frame. Otherwise, the citizen has the right to trial in both civil and criminal proceedings.
