Why you need to be more careful with your words in 2021: what is the penalty now for slander and insults?

This is slander

In the modern world, various confrontations and conflicts are not uncommon, which are not always conducted honestly.
One of the most common weapons of the information age is information itself. Used from a certain angle and for a specific purpose, they can harm another person, sometimes much more seriously than other methods of influence. For example, insult and slander are quite commonly used methods of influencing a person. Both ways have consequences described in the legislation of the Russian Federation. Slander is the dissemination and communication of information that is not true. Moreover, only that action in which it is known in advance that the information is false is considered slander. There is an addition according to which the list of information includes information that discredits the dignity or honor of another person, as well as having a negative impact on his reputation.

For insult on the Internet

Insults on the World Wide Web are called cyberbullying. Information that is offensive in nature is seen by thousands of Internet users. Previously, courts considered cases of insults inflicted through social networks and forums. However, today such practice does not exist. Since the legislation of the Russian Federation does not directly indicate that insults made via the Internet are equal to public ones. There is one exception - these are news information sites. They belong to the media.

For example, an insult to Ivanova I.I. - “a gossip and a fool”, which is posted on a social network page, will not be considered public. But if this information is published on the page of a news site, it’s easy.

However, cyberbullying can be certified by a notary. This will make it much easier to prove the offender's guilt.

Article for libel in 2021

The article was adopted in 2012, but amendments were made in 2021, so for 2021 the article “Slander” has an edited form. According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, libel is divided into 5 subtypes, each of which has a comment and a separately described type of punishment.

It is worth considering in more detail each concept that makes up the term “libel.” Comments to the article “Slander”:

• Dissemination means that the information has been communicated to others. Moreover, this includes absolutely any methods - written, audio, and video materials. You can also slander a person using the media (radio, newspapers, television), the Internet or in personal communication. Even a contact between just two people resulting in false information may be subject to legal action;
• Knowingly (knowingly false) - the slanderer knew for sure in advance that the information he was reporting did not correspond to reality;
• Falsehood is not conformity with the truth;
• Defaming dignity - belittling a person’s personality in the eyes of the public. For example, this includes information according to which a person committed, participated in, or witnessed an illegal or immoral act.

It is worth noting separately that, according to Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, only an individual can be a victim or plaintiff, while a legal entity does not have the opportunity to sue on the basis of this provision.

Slander on the Internet, we practice under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Slander on the Internet, we are doing practice.

A woman, a plastic surgeon practicing in Moscow, contacted me; very impartial comments were written about her, discrediting the doctor’s reputation, on the social network Instagram.

Just before this, amendments were made to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provide for the introduction of criminal liability for the spread of slander on the Internet.

You could, of course, file a criminal complaint with the police, but I don’t believe in the efficiency of the police.

If, of course, this happened on TV, RADIO, it was possible to request and ask for previously aired material, they keep it in the archive.

Then there would be proof, an official response and a record.

But what to do with the Internet, especially if after contacting, suddenly, comments, articles, publications on the Internet are deleted by the attacker. And before they were deleted, many people had already read them.

In this case, it is generally difficult to prove the fact of slander.

A simple screenshot would also not be significant evidence, because they may answer that this is the result of Photoshop.

Here's what we did after concluding an agreement on legal assistance.

They immediately contacted a notary before filing a statement with the police.

Inspection of the site by a notary is necessary to record certain information or information that is currently posted on the Internet, but may be changed or deleted, which will make it impossible to prove the fact of libel.

Before the inspection, the notary draws up a statement disclosing the violation of rights.

By the way, inspection of a website or information on the Internet by a notary may be useful in other matters. Including defense against criminal prosecution and in civil disputes.

The final stage in the process of notarization of Internet pages is to indicate that the inspection protocol has been drawn up in several copies, one of which remains on file with the notary, the rest have been issued.

After recording by a notary and receiving from him an appropriately drawn up act, in the future you can demand to identify and prosecute the guilty person.

The next step is to determine from which IP address, phone or computer the defamatory comment or publication was published.

But this is already the task of inquiry.

After receiving the report of the inspection of the site by the notary, a statement was prepared to the police to initiate a criminal case, attaching a copy of the report of the inspection by the notary. An explanation from the applicant was also immediately drawn up, signed and sent along with the application, to save time.

As a result, a criminal case was opened at our request under Part 2 of Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Moreover, several more people submitted similar applications (we learned this later). But according to their statements, criminal proceedings were refused, since the suspect (or rather the already known suspect) deleted the publication.

Realizing that the inquiry may also not be so efficient, I submitted a petition to carry out a number of investigative actions. The petition is attached as a file.

Later it turns out that the suspect will not even deny the fact of slander.

Punishment for libel

There are five subtypes of slander, for each of which the accused bears a certain punishment. It is worth describing separately the punishment for each type of slander:

1. Dissemination of false information that negatively affects a person’s reputation is punishable by a fine or mandatory labor. The fine in this case will be up to 500,000 rubles or will be equal to the salary (or other type of income) of the culprit for the last six months, compulsory work has a period of up to 160 hours;
2. Information contained in a work publicly displayed or disseminated through the media and the Internet. In this case, the fine is up to 1,000,000 rubles or the amount of income for the last year, and work lasting up to 240 hours;
3. Slander committed with the use of official position. Fine - up to 2,000,000 rubles or income for the last 2 years, work - up to 320 hours;
4. The following two types of false information are punished equally: those containing information about a crime of a sexual nature and those containing information about a disease dangerous to others. Fine - up to 3,000,000 rubles or income for the last 3 years, work - up to 400 hours;
5. Slander about the commission of a grave or special grave crime. Fine - up to 5,000,000 rubles or the amount of income for the last 3 years, work - up to 480 hours.

There is no exact mention of punishment in each paragraph; moreover, there are two options - a fine or compulsory labor. The decision remains with the court, which, having considered a separate case, makes the final decision.

What is the article for insults and threats?

Until 2012, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provided for article 130 for insult. According to it, the culprit could not suffer severe punishment for insulting the personality of another person. Even in court it was difficult to prove the guilt of the accused. It was necessary to provide direct witnesses and physical evidence. One of the most difficult obstacles is to prove the intent of the perpetrator. In judicial practice, criminal cases based on insult have practically not been considered. And if they were discussed, then only as additional episodes in the case of the threat of murder.

What is the article for insults and threats? There are two of them. Namely:

• Art. 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provides for criminal liability for insults and threats against a government representative);
• Art. 336 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - insult and threat against a military personnel.

In 2012, insult was considered not a crime, but an offense. It is provided for in Art. 5. 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. Criminal liability for insult under this article has already been abolished. However, it does not promise anything pleasant. For insult, the culprit is obliged to pay a fine in the amount of 1,000 to 50,000 rubles. The amount of the fine depends on the identity of the offender and the circumstances of the conflict situation.

Criminal liability for insults and threats (Article 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) occurs if the insults were public. Accordingly, there must be witnesses who were nearby at the time of the conflict.

Arbitrage practice

Judicial practice under the article “Slander”, unfortunately, does not have the most positive information for victims, since in most cases the decision is not made in favor of the plaintiff. The reason for this is the vagueness of the wording in the law itself; there are no precise definitions. In addition, the evidence base is most often built on the testimony of witnesses, which does not always have real weight in court. Exceptions, perhaps, will be cases when there is evidence in the form of audio or video material, as well as printed newspapers, correspondence, etc.

As a rule, the most difficult thing in an accusation is to prove the elements of the crime, that is, it is necessary to show that the slanderer actually had malicious intent and committed the act intentionally, which means that for him the information was deliberately false.

A few examples of cases brought under this article:

• A case was presented to the court in which one person insulted another over the phone using profanity. A linguistic examination was carried out, as a result of which it was revealed that the words “idiot” and “fool” are not insults, but only evaluate a person based on his behavior. For this reason the accused was acquitted;
• The boss allowed himself to speak out about his subordinate in the workplace, namely, he accused the subordinate of coming to work drunk. This was not true, and the subordinate went to court to find the truth, since this statement negatively affected his reputation. However, the court found that in this case there was no corpus delicti: the boss heard this information from other employees, which means that he had no malicious intent;
• A domestic quarrel during which both parties uttered a lot of abusive and profanity towards each other. It was precisely because the slander and insults came from both participants in the case that the court decided that it was not necessary to impose a fine or compulsory labor.

Another factor complicating the practice of recognizing slander is the lack of a basis. People quite rarely go to court under this article, which is why there is no established judicial practice on which to rely. However, recently there are more and more such cases, for this reason it is possible that already in 2021 the article “Slander” will have more convictions.

For harassment in the workplace

In this case, everything depends on the victim’s place of work. If he is a representative of the authorities (law enforcement officer, police officer, etc.) or a career military serviceman, then the offender is responsible for the offense committed in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. What is the article for insults and threats in this case? Articles 319 and 336 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The main condition is that the incident occurred while performing official duties.

For public insult in the workplace under Art. 319 the culprit must pay a fine of 4,000 rubles or undergo correctional labor.

An insult that occurred between people of equal status or in the rank of “superior-subordinate”, the punishment is a restriction on military service or disciplinary punishment.

In all other cases, the culprit will bear administrative liability for public insult. In this case, it does not matter to whom exactly the insult was addressed - a client - a service worker or a boss - a subordinate. The action will be qualified according to one criterion: whether the insult was public or not.

Slander and insult

It is also worth distinguishing between the two concepts of “slander” and “insult”. Slander is the communication to others and the dissemination of deliberately false information, which leads to a negative impact on a person’s reputation, while insult is an obscene statement about a person. Hence: libel is a crime, insult is an administrative offense. Slander points to certain facts, insult simply evaluates a person from a negative side.

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Prevention and prevention

“If you don’t like what they write about you, don’t read,” “What did you expect from the Internet? Here everyone does what they want,” “Why take everything to heart?” — with similar remarks people try to support the victim of cyberbullying. But the child does not perceive virtual space as a threat. He has been immersed in the Internet since childhood: he associates games, cartoons, and fairy tales with pleasure. Therefore, having fallen into the aggressor’s network, he is left alone with him, not knowing how to act. And asking for help is a shame.

“Teach your children to respect confidentiality: do not post personal information or photos online that could damage their reputation and self-esteem, and do not share your location with strangers. If a teenager does become the target of bullying, do not reproach him: I told you so, but you didn’t listen. Create a safe environment by removing offensive messages and limiting access to violent videos. Block unwanted sites, but don’t take away gadgets, otherwise the child will feel like an outsider.”

I'm being trolled, what should I do?

• Share the problem with those you trust: relatives, friends, older comrades.
• Ignore an isolated incident of cyberbullying.
• Don't take revenge. As already mentioned, any negativity affects your well-being. If you can’t do anything, try to switch to something positive: visit a site with cute pictures, laugh at a funny video, write to a loved one.
• When they start to deliberately touch your nerves, tell them directly so that the person will stop.
• Laugh. Try to turn a mean comment into a joke. Mentally dress the troll in a clown suit, imagine how funny he makes faces, artificially cries or dances absurdly, as if in a circus.
• Save evidence: message screenshots, photos, videos.
• Block those who have a bad reputation online. This can be done in the phone settings, on special platforms. Close your profile, add only people you know as friends.
• If you are intimidated, extorted money or threatened with life/health, you need to contact the police.
• Report trolling to the content provider.
• If you witness cyberbullying, stand up for the victim, but do not engage in destructive dialogue. Invite your like-minded friends and together apply positive pressure on the aggressor. Create a separate chat to support the victim and exchange experiences of online behavior.

Corpus delicti

The legislation considers the intention of one person to cause certain harm to another person as a threat. This intention can be expressed in a variety of forms:

• orally;
• in writing;
• with reinforcement of certain gestures ;
• with the use and demonstration of weapons .

The harm itself must be perceived by the victim as a real threat to human health. In fact, it does not matter whether the attacker really intended to cause harm or whether he did it only to scare the person.

The fundamental fact in this case is the victim’s perception of the real danger posed by the aggressor. Responsibility for such actions occurs not when the attacker attempts to carry them out, but when he provides this information to the victim. This is directly related to the fact that a person’s constant emotional stress can significantly worsen his well-being.

When assessing the actions and statements of a threatening person, the circumstances under which the action is carried out are also taken into account. Because such threats can be made in the form of a joke and will not be taken seriously by anyone. But if such words are uttered during a conflict or under other circumstances when there is no reason to take them lightly, they will be considered an official threat.