The widespread spread of the Internet has provided good ground not only for communication and information enrichment, but also for committing crimes. Criminals are attracted by the remoteness, anonymity and the high probability that they will never be found. Therefore, fraud, blackmail, insulting the honor and dignity of people, as well as slander are currently flourishing online.
Moreover, these crimes can affect both an individual person and a group of people, and in the case of insults based on national or religious grounds, an entire community of people. The spread of slander on the Internet is not uncommon, and if you find yourself in such a situation, you will probably think about whether it is possible to punish the offender according to the law and what needs to be done for this. Let's figure it out in order.
What is libel
According to Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, libel is the dissemination of knowingly false information that discredits the honor and dignity of a person or undermines his reputation. There are several types of slander:
- which is contained in a public speech, demonstrated in any work or media;
- committed using one’s official position;
- that a person suffers from a socially dangerous disease, or that a person has committed violent acts of a sexual nature;
- that a person has committed a serious or especially serious crime.
Regardless of whether one person slandered another intentionally or not, he will be held accountable for what he did; the punishment will depend on what crime he will be charged with in accordance with the classification described above.
On social networks and media
Due to the fact that a separate article for libel on the Internet is not provided, in 2012 an amendment was made to the Criminal Code, according to which such behavior on the Internet is equated to public speech, which is demonstrated to a wide range of people using the media.
In addition, if the Internet resource on which the defamatory information was posted is registered as a mass media outlet, the norms established by law regarding the media will be applied.
False information on the Internet is not uncommon. The difficulty here lies in which lies can be called slander and which cannot, because there is no clear definition of what can be considered the criterion of “falsehood.” The media often take advantage of this.
When publishing such information, they structure it in such a way as to minimize the possibility of the person to whom this information concerns going to court. Such publications are most often custom-made and used to reduce the popularity of a particular person or enterprise. In most cases, such materials contain a link to an authoritative source who wished to remain anonymous.
At the same time, there is such an unpleasant practice on the part of the media as covering up false information with freedom of speech, and, unfortunately, this scheme works. However, any person has the right by law to defend his honor and dignity, and the media can still be prosecuted for using false information.
If such a situation arises, it is worth contacting law enforcement agencies, and if the fact of slander is proven, the violator will be held accountable in accordance with the provisions of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Slander on social networks has a slightly different direction than in the media. It is rarely custom-made and is more often based on the personal hostility of the offender towards the person whose honor he wants to discredit.
In this situation, it is necessary to distinguish what exactly we are dealing with - slander or insult, because these acts are interpreted by different articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
If there is a public dissemination of false information, then we are talking about libel. If a “cunning word” was addressed to you, then it is appropriate to talk about an insult.
The difficulty in finding and catching criminals who spread false information on social media is that they never do it openly.
Most often, fictitious names are used, fake pages are created, or strangers are used that were illegally accessed. However, this does not change the fact that a crime was committed, which means it must be investigated and punished in accordance with the law.
General information
This article also contains the following information:
- slander;
- actions taken in case of detection of defamation;
- criminal liability for libel.
The Internet has become an integral part of the life of modern people, and social networks have become a common place for communication and learning news. Over the past few years, dubious groups have begun to appear on social networks.
Statistics show that most of the criminal cases initiated relate to the dissemination of information discrediting the honor and dignity of citizens online, and a smaller part is slander in print media.
How to fight slander on the Internet: what to do and where to go
Judicial practice on issues of libel on the Internet has recently received significant development, the search for violators and methods for identifying them are being improved.
There is a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the so-called “K” department, which investigates crimes on the Internet. However, there are still a lot of difficulties in this matter.
So, for example, you cannot hold a website or Internet portal accountable, even if defamatory information is published on it; you can only contact the resource administration with a request to remove false information, citing evidence of its untruthfulness. If you receive a refusal, you can file an appeal to the magistrates' court to resolve the situation.
In any case, regardless of who and where used false information about you, liability can only arise if the court is provided with a well-formed evidence base.
What needs to be proven: the event of the crime, that is, the time, place of commission, method, etc., the guilt of the suspect, the amount and nature of the harm caused by the crime, the facts on the basis of which the court will establish the presence or absence of circumstances of the crime committed, as well as any other significant circumstances.
The difficulty of independently collecting evidence by the injured person is complicated by the fact that his capabilities are usually limited in technical terms. You can independently find out information about the owners of the site that contains false information. Data about the IP address of the person who posted the defamatory information, the location of his computer, etc. can only be found out if there is an order from the investigator or the court to do so.
In addition, it is often impossible to identify the person spreading false information if this was done, for example, by sending anonymous letters to organizations or citizens, or when disseminating information on the Internet by an individual who cannot be identified.
According to the civil code, in this case, upon the application of the person subjected to slander, the court may recognize the disseminated information as untrue. Also, a person who has suffered due to slander has the right to demand compensation for moral damage and losses.
If information has been disseminated about you that is not true, you can and should defend your rights, since in this case your honor and dignity suffer.
You need to contact the police department with an application to conduct a check for the presence of a crime under Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
It is quite possible that the audit will not find criminal intent in these actions, and you will be refused to initiate a criminal case. But you can always file a civil claim for damages if your reputation has actually been damaged.
If you apply to the magistrate's court, it is better to do this when you have all the evidence in your hands that the crime really took place, otherwise the case will not be considered by the court.
You can also complain to the prosecutor's office about the dissemination of information discrediting you. The competence of this body includes bringing the offender to criminal liability without trial. If, however, a trial cannot be avoided, then an employee of the prosecutor’s office will represent your interests, acting in the status of a state prosecutor.
Proof
The most difficult thing in this whole process is to prove the fact of slander . In fact, it is much more complicated than it might seem at first glance. In cases where false information was disseminated via the Internet, printouts of messages containing defamatory information, publications of sites, forums, social networks that were used to disseminate the data can be used as material evidence; a notarized copy of the site inspection protocol will also be required.
Often, the presence of slander in any statement requires the opinion of a professional linguist-expert.
Origin of the term
This word is of Latin origin. In medieval Europe, legislative terminology was based, as a rule, on this language. Later, words appeared in English and French that were Latin borrowings and meant “slander,” that is, the disclosure of false information. These terms come from the Latin defame.
The Russian analogue “defamation” is also borrowed from the language of the ancient Romans, but it is not synonymous with slander. These concepts are not entirely equivalent. In modern Russia, “defamation” is a term that is inherent in educational and scientific literature. It is not used in legal practice. That is, in Russian, the term discussed in this article has a broader meaning.
Court
To begin legal proceedings, you will need a screenshot of the defamatory content, certified by a notary. Next, a linguistic examination is carried out, and based on the results of the experts’ work, conclusions are drawn.
A positive examination does not guarantee victory in court. It establishes that the text contains false information that is harmful to the company, and there is no subjective judgment for which liability is not provided. For the plaintiff, the expert’s opinion will become a necessary evidence base; without it, the court will not pass a verdict. The cost of the examination is 15–20 thousand rubles.
Spreading false information in the media
Libel in the media is defamation in the media that is based on false information and carried out intentionally. For such an atrocity, the accused may receive a more significant punishment. The fine will amount to up to a million rubles. If it is impossible to pay this amount, the convicted person will have to spend two hundred and forty hours in forced labor.
Defamation in Russia
The dissemination of personal information has not been considered a vice for a long time in our country. It could not be otherwise in a society in which denunciation was encouraged, and private correspondence was often considered in order to obtain any information. Defamation is a phenomenon that can be considered from a moral aspect only in a democratic society. As for criminal liability, in Soviet times such issues were reluctant to be resolved in court.
In Russia, there has recently been a rapid increase in disputes about the protection of honor. The democratization of society and the increase in the value of the human person have influenced many areas of activity. However, the lack of traditions in the consideration of defamation cases often leads to contradictions in judicial practice. Since this phenomenon differs from slander in a more general sense, its main types should be highlighted.
