Liability for libel is provided for under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. On January 10, 2021, a number of amendments were made to Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code. The list of qualifying compounds has been expanded, and accordingly, more conditions have appeared for receiving an increased fine.
Sanctions for libel on the Internet can amount to up to a million rubles. If a person is falsely accused of committing a crime against sexual integrity, then the amount increases to 5 million. The most persistent violators are sentenced to imprisonment.
Legal basis
Digital Sharks is a service for legally deleting information. At the time of publication, we have successfully eliminated more than 2,000 information sources on the network, including slander. From experience, we can say that it is more effective to act without threats, pressure and bringing cases to court.
Slander means the deliberate dissemination of false information that discredits honor and dignity. In other words, a person who decided to harm or destroy the business reputation of an opponent deliberately disseminated false information in order to cause adverse consequences.
The Criminal Code for defamation on the Internet (Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) provides for punishment up to a prison term. The Civil Code has a similar article - “Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation” (Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). And the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for Article 5.61, which establishes liability for insult. This concept refers to information that degrades honor and dignity. The result of insult is a negative assessment of the individual by the public.
What are the differences between the articles? Let's explain with an example. To call an opponent a fool is to insult. To express that his professional activities are ineffective is to strike a blow to his business reputation. But publishing a post in which it is written that the activity is ineffective, and hoping that the publication will provoke losses, is slander on social networks.
Liability for libelous actions
- Simple slander, i.e. committed without aggravating circumstances, is punishable by fines in the amount of up to half a million rubles or compulsory work lasting up to 160 hours.
- If to spread deliberately false information, attackers used the media, the Internet and other channels that made it possible to make information available to the general public, a more severe punishment is provided: payment of a million rubles or work lasting 240 hours.
- If a criminal uses powers associated with his official position to tarnish a person’s good name, he is punishable by a fine of up to 2 million rubles. or 320-hour jobs.
- If the attacker “disclosed” information about the victim’s non-existent illnesses or sexual assaults attributed to him, the sanctions will increase to 3 million rubles.
- Finally, the most serious crime is the publication orally or via the Internet of information about a crime committed by the victim. Such defamation of a person is punishable by a 5 million fine or work for a period of up to 480 hours.
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.
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.
Pre-trial claim
Courts are a very long and costly process for removing defamation on the Internet, where it is advisable to go only as a last resort. There is an alternative solution - a pre-trial claim. At the end of 2020, criminal liability for libel was tightened, adding a prison term. Therefore, you should count on the compliance of the people who published the defamatory material.
The general scheme of the claim is as follows: the victim points out to the people responsible for the libel that they are mistaken and breaking the law. Provides links to legislative acts, reports the availability of documents refuting false information, and sets a deadline for removing defamation on the Internet. Usually this is 15 days from the date of receipt of the letter.
What to do if the attacker is unknown?
If the person who published false information hides his name, publishes under a nickname, or uses the possibilities of anonymously sending messages, when writing a statement to the police, you need to add a clause to it about the need to verify and establish the user’s identity. In this case, the identity of the criminal is first identified, and only then the information on the second part of the libel statement is checked.
Venues
In the past, large review sites have published in their rules that the administration disclaims responsibility for the content. Recently, changes have occurred in the legislation of the Russian Federation, and now, by court decision, reviewers are required to remove false information.
The administration of most sites is easy to contact. If you submit an explanatory letter containing reasonable arguments and references to laws, the defamatory material will be deleted.
There are sites that profit from black PR and sell VIP accounts with the ability to stop the spread of slander on the Internet. If a company buys such an account, then negative feedback will continue to appear, because this is beneficial to the site administration.
Giants such as Yandex and Google will not always help cope with slander on the Internet. Yandex removes a little more than 35% of problematic pages from search results, and Google management decides for itself what is slander and what is not.
Previously, the law did not apply to materials on social networks, which were recognized as subjective by default. But after a trial in 2013, the rules changed.
One young man created a fake account for a classmate on social networks. On the new page, he posted damaging information about the schoolgirl’s personal life. The court found the young man guilty of spreading slander on social networks and ordered him to pay 50 thousand rubles for moral damages.
Defamation on the Internet and the media: judicial practice, article, punishment, rights
One of the ways to spread false and defamatory information about another person is through the use of the media, public speaking, and the World Wide Web.
These methods of distribution also include: publication of information in print media; broadcast on television or radio; distribution on websites, Internet resources, social networks, blogs; showing in documentary television programs; communication to third parties in testimonials, internal letters, public statements or statements, and communications sent to officials.
These unlawful acts are qualified as aggravating circumstances under Part 2 of Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code, which amended the norm in 2012.
The basis for bringing an attacker to justice is that false information about a person must violate his personal space, in particular, his honor and dignity are affected, and his person is discredited in the eyes of others.
This information about a person or organization should not correspond to the real state of affairs.
mass media
So, slander on the Internet and the media: how to attract, where to go and how to fight? Dissemination of information about another person that does not correspond to reality in the media is the publication of such information in the following sources:
- printed publications;
- television and radio broadcasts and television programs;
- documentary programs.
The dissemination of slanderous information in the media can be very diverse - about a person’s business qualities, about a person’s character, his relationships with family members or colleagues, about views on politics or religion. However, always a mandatory sign of a criminal act is the provision of such information to a third party or an indefinite unlimited circle of persons.
If the information was communicated to the person whom it affected, it cannot be considered its dissemination if the person who communicated it took sufficient measures to maintain its secrecy.
This video presents an expert opinion of a lawyer on the issue of libel in the media:
Features of the crime
The consequences of the spread of slander in the media are the resulting wide resonance in society and the subsequent discussion of false information at various social levels, as well as a negative psychological impact on a person.
A feature of slander in the media is the difficulty of determining the measure of the “falsity” of disseminated information.
Many publications and reports containing materials with false information are prepared for release from the very beginning so that any possibility of challenge in court is excluded.
Materials and their publication are often of a custom nature and initially include provisions that reduce the likelihood of determining the falsity of information.
For example, publications contain information about the poor quality of the company’s products in order to reduce its popularity in the market.
To do this, certain phrases or expressions are used, and there is also an indication of some influential source or other compelling reasons. In this case, there is no need to indicate a reliable source of information; it can be anonymous.
Its signs and proof
The difficulty of proving the dissemination of slanderous information in the media lies in the fact that the principle of freedom of speech is enshrined at the constitutional level. Hiding behind this concept, many print media, television and radio channels use the opportunity to justify editorial orders or secrets containing information that can be considered unreliable.
This method is a loophole in the law that allows any dissemination of slanderous information in the media to be covered up by freedom of speech. Using this constitutional principle, attackers can protect their position.
In addition, there are always people who are interested in being asked to spread defamatory information about others. And, of course, placement and publication of advertising or other materials with false information is done on a paid basis.
Thus, the authors of such information receive good “royalties”.
Problems
The difficulty of bringing criminals to justice is explained by the fact that cases in this category are difficult to solve. Judicial practice is minimal in relation to bringing to justice the heads of editorial offices of public publications, various Internet resources or television channels.
If there has been slander in the media, the victims are interested in the process of protecting their violated rights, regaining their good name and the favor of their relatives and work colleagues.
Initiation of a case
Libel cases are initiated as private prosecutions. Therefore, in order to protect rights, it is necessary to apply to the magistrate’s court, which will “investigate” the crime.
But in addition to this, it is necessary to obtain high-quality legal assistance, as well as prepare a substantial evidence base that will accurately and objectively indicate a violation of a citizen’s rights.
This may require the following examinations as part of the investigation of the case and identification of the culprit:
- Psychological and linguistic examination
- Linguistic expertise.
To carry out the examination, qualified specialists who have been certified by the Chamber of Forensic Experts are involved. The activity is to establish objective circumstances, prove the falsity of information, and justify the moral damage caused. To carry out the analysis, a commission of several specialists is created.
The expert is provided with information for research based on the following criteria:
- the presence of negative information about the victim;
- a form used to express false information: the statement or this information carries a value judgment;
- whether the defamatory information is related to a specific person who could have disseminated it.
The conclusion of these studies forms the basis for the court verdict, along with witness testimony and the subjective opinion of the victim.
If the victim does not have the opportunity to independently defend his rights, he has the right to file a complaint with law enforcement agencies. The case may be initiated by an investigator or an inquiry officer.
About what slander and insults on the Internet are. we'll tell you further.
Internet
The World Wide Web allows you to spread false information about other persons, belittling their honor and dignity. At the same time, this is done very simply; there is the possibility of maintaining confidentiality and obtaining certain material benefits.
However, despite the fact that many anonymous authors hide behind fictitious nicknames and fake photographs after publishing materials online, the culprit can still be found. Modern judicial practice in these cases is gradually beginning to take shape and the search for slanderers on the Internet is reaching a new level.
The following video contains useful information about online libel:
Investigation and evidence base
Control over criminal acts on the Internet is entrusted to a specially created unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - Directorate “K”. In their work, department employees are guided by special rules of the Criminal Code and other laws relating to libel on the Internet and media regulating the computer sphere, which do not define “libel on the Internet.”
The difficulty of the investigation lies in the fact that at the legislative level there is no way to bring a site or Internet resource containing publications with false and defamatory information to justice.
To protect your rights, you can contact the management of the Internet portal with a statement about the publication of invalid information on the site and provide evidence of their illegality.
In case of refusal, you can go to the magistrate's court to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The difficulty of handling cases is as follows:
- the perpetrator uses anonymity;
- labor-intensive process of searching for evidence.
If guilt is proven, a letter will be sent to the site management with a request to block the account of the person who disseminated the defamatory information. If the fact of presenting defamatory information is proven in court, then, by written court order, the owner of the Internet resource is obliged to remove the false information that discredits the honor of the victim.
Punishment and liability for libel on the Internet and the media
Responsibility for this crime is established by the norm of the Criminal Code, which provides for the following types of alternative punishments for the perpetrator:
The penalty is applied by the judge based on the case materials, as well as aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Judicial practice regarding violation of articles of the legislation of the Russian Federation regarding libel through the Internet and the media is quite extensive; examples are given below.
Arbitrage practice
There are already enough lawsuits in cases of dissemination of libel on the Internet and judicial practice. Some of the most common places for posting false information are social networks, various blogs and dating sites.
Social network
So, in 2013, a minor schoolboy created a fake account for his classmate on the social network “”. On this page, the young man published information about her personal life, as well as false information that clearly discredited the dignity of her classmate. A criminal case was opened against the attacker on charges of libel.
The court pronounced a guilty verdict under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code with the imposition of punishment in the form of performing compulsory labor. In addition, the girl demanded compensation for moral damages for the publication of information about her personal life. The court granted the petition, setting the amount of compensation in the amount of 50,000 rubles.
In judicial practice, dilemmas arise regarding whether Internet resources are considered media. Since the dissemination of false information in the media is a qualifying sign of an atrocity, for which a more severe punishment is provided.
According to the clarifications of the RF Supreme Court, courts must take into account that in the event of publication of invalid or defamatory information on an Internet information resource that is registered as a media outlet, in such claims it is necessary to apply the rules relating to the media.
Thus, if false information about a person was posted on a registered Internet resource as a media outlet, then the unlawful act will be qualified under Part 2 of Art. 128.1.
In the following video, a specialist talks about how to sue an online slanderer:
When a pre-trial claim is not needed
The rules of review sites indicate whether the administration removes content upon request. For example, Otzovik is registered in Cyprus, and domestic legislation does not apply to it. The administration deletes false information in accordance with its rules.
Marketplaces have already developed a scheme for resolving controversial situations. Sending a pre-trial claim to their administration is not the best solution, since you may receive a counterclaim. And if you send a complaint to the author about the spread of slander on the Internet, bypassing the administration, you can provoke a protracted conflict.
Of course, it is possible to prove libel on the Internet. The difficulty lies in the anonymity of the attacker and the labor-intensive process of collecting evidence for the court. If guilt is proven, a letter is sent to the site administration demanding that the slanderer’s account be blocked.
Otherwise, the page with slander will be blocked by Roskomnadzor. But this will take a lot of time, which will be required for interdepartmental coordination, drawing up acts and collecting evidence. As practice shows, it is faster and easier to contact the site administration, explaining that false information has been published, or entrust this to negotiators from Digital Sharks.
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.
