Every Russian has the right to search, receive and transmit information. This is stated in the Constitution. Moreover, censorship is prohibited in our country. But freedom of speech often leads to uncontrolled use of information, causing significant harm to both public order and the reputation of an individual. Defamation is the disclosure of incriminating facts. It differs from slander, for which a punishment is provided for in the Criminal Code, in that it is a fact of the spread of any information. And how true they are, does not matter.
Origin of the term
This word is of Latin origin. In medieval Europe, legislative terminology was usually based on this language. Later, words appeared in English and French, which are Latin borrowings and meaning "slander," that is, the disclosure of false information. These terms are derived from the Latin defame.
The Russian counterpart “defamation” is also a borrowing from the language of the ancient Romans, however, it is not synonymous with slander. These concepts are not completely equivalent. In modern Russia, “defamation” is a term that is inherent in educational and scientific literature. In legal practice, it is not used. That is, in Russian, the term referred to in this article has a broader meaning.
What's the Difference?
And yet, what is common in such concepts as defamation and slander? Both in the first and in the second case we are talking about the disclosure of any information. Responsibility for defamation is not provided for in Russian law. In court, a person cannot be punished only for telling others information of any nature. However, in the event that this information was knowingly false and intentionally disseminated, the victim of such rumors and speculation has the right to sue the offender.
Defamation in Russia
The dissemination of personal information for a long time in our country was not considered a vice. It could not be otherwise in a society in which denunciation was encouraged, and private correspondence was often considered with the aim of obtaining any information. Defamation is a phenomenon that can be considered in a moral aspect only in a democratic society. With regard to criminal liability, in Soviet times, such issues were reluctantly resolved in court.
In Russia, there has recently been a rapid increase in disputes over the protection of honor. The democratization of society and the increase in the value of the human personality have affected many areas of activity. However, the lack of traditions in considering defamation cases often leads to contradictions in judicial practice. Since this phenomenon differs from libel in a more general sense, its main types should be distinguished.
Types of defamation
There are three of them:
- Deliberate dissemination of false information (slander);
- unintentional transmission of defamatory information;
- distribution of truthful, but discrediting information.
Based on the above classification, we can conclude that one of the types of defamation is slander. The Criminal Code provides for different penalties for such acts, depending on the severity and on whose honor suffered as a result of the dissemination of information.
Reliable information
For the transfer of information that discredit a person, but are absolutely reliable, to sue a person is not easy.First of all, because such a trial casts a shadow on the prosecutor himself. However, if the victim still wants to achieve justice, he can go to court. The Penal Code provides for penalties for violating privacy.
Unintentional implausible defamation
Can a person be prosecuted if by accident, deliberately, he did not spread rumors that created an unfavorable atmosphere for another citizen? In the Criminal Code is present article for defamation. And this legal term has such a sign as "deliberate", that is, awareness of the inconsistency of the information about reality. Consequently, a person who disseminated information, but was able to prove in court his ignorance of its falsity, will be acquitted.
Invalid defamation
Defamation can take various forms: oral, written. It can be presented in an anonymous statement or periodical. Its main feature is falsity. It is on rumors and speculation that libel is based. The Criminal Code, as already mentioned, provides for punishment, which depends on the gravity of the crime. The dissemination of information that is capable of undermining the reputation of a particular person can have various scales.
Defamation at the household level
If one citizen disseminates unseemly information about another, but does it verbally, without resorting to any means of more efficient transmission of information, that is, periodicals, the Network, television, etc., he can be punished as a result of a trial a fine or forced labor for up to six months. Monetary compensation to the victim in this case will amount to five hundred thousand rubles.
Dissemination of false information in the media
Slander in the media - defamation in the media, which is based on false information and is carried out intentionally. For such atrocity, the accused may be punished more substantially. The fine will be up to a million rubles. If it is not possible to pay this amount, the convict will have to spend two hundred and forty hours on forced labor.
Other types of slander
The dissemination of knowingly false information entails criminal penalties also if a certain official acts as the initiator of the transfer of information, committing a crime using his official rights.
A fine of up to three million rubles may be imposed on a citizen whose fault has been proved regarding the transfer of false information about a person’s illness or about the commission of a sexual offense.
Defamation, which is connected with the accusation of a person committing a serious crime, is punishable by a fine of up to five million rubles.
Consider the examples of slander that are quite common today in society. The presentation of false information in the media is extremely common today. Such cases are infrequently considered in court, although such an act is nothing but intentional unreliable defamation.
Examples
The illusion of impunity allows immoral Web users to post offensive messages and facts that are untrue on websites, forums and social networks. However, confidence in the anonymity of the transmission of such information is a misconception. And although it is not always possible to find a criminal, such acts are by no means unpunished.
On one of the news portals, information was published about the trial of a certain police officer who, for unknown purposes, posted information about the victim on a dating site. The information had nothing to do with reality.By posting the victim’s photo and personal information, he posted on his profile an announcement of being a sexual minority and a desire to make an acquaintance with a man. The accused was punished in accordance with the second part of Article 129 of the Criminal Code and dismissed from the organs. If, when committing this crime, the convict would use the information that he was able to obtain due to his official position, he would be charged with the third part of the article on defamation.
Consideration of a similar case took place in September last year. The famous Russian politician accused another public figure of libel. Obviously false information, according to the politician, is contained in the recently published book of the accused. In an autobiographical work, a public figure supposedly exposed politics as an extremist and a provocateur.
It is worth saying that the same plaintiff once filed a lawsuit with the court against the famous writer. Then the author of detective prose portrayed the famous eccentric politician in an unsightly manner, but at the same time endowed her literary hero with a different surname. It is in order to avoid such conflicts, which often come to trial, that writers, as a rule, intentionally endowing their characters with the characteristic features of a real person, change their names to fictitious ones.
