How to prosecute for insults on the Internet

According to surveys, more than half of Russians have at least once experienced insults on the Internet. The most frequent targets of insults are citizens who actively participate in online discussions. However, it is possible to encounter insults at work, on vacation and in public places. "Izvestia" tells what responsibility is provided for insults and how to bring the offender to justice.

What is considered an insult

Insult to a person is an unintentional or intentional humiliation of the honor and dignity of another person. But it is not possible to bring to responsibility for all statements made in the course of a quarrel or for other reasons, but only for "expressed in an indecent or other form contrary to generally accepted norms of morality and morality".

It is necessary to distinguish between such concepts as insult and libel. While insult is aimed at humiliating a person, libel is aimed at disseminating knowingly false information that undermines a person's reputation. In 2011, in accordance with the amendments to the legislation, insult, as well as libel, was excluded from the number of criminal offenses and transferred to the category of administrative.

The exception is situations when it comes to insulting the feelings of believers, police officers and other representatives of the authorities. And the insult may be expressed not only in words, but also in the form of a cartoon. In other cases, liability is provided for in accordance with Article 5.61 of the Administrative Code ("Insult").

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How to bring to responsibility for insult

To bring the offender to responsibility, it is necessary to write a statement to the prosecutor's office, having previously collected evidence of the offense. This can be records of telephone conversations, video surveillance cameras, printouts of messages in the phone. It is better to notarize the printed page. It will serve as evidence, if the offensive review itself is already removed.

You can also go to court with a lawsuit to protect honor and dignity, especially if the insults were public, in particular on the Internet. This method, for example, is often chosen by Internet trolls and haters, who almost always act anonymously. Meanwhile, it is not technically difficult for the police to "unravel" such cases.

It is advisable to attach to the application the conclusion of a linguistic expertise, which evaluates the text for the presence of information that can be qualified as offensive. If necessary, a petition for its appointment can be filed.

In addition, the offender can be asked to reimburse the court costs, for example, for a lawyer and linguistic examination, as well as to recover funds for moral damages.

What is the penalty for insulting statements?

For insulting statements, there is a fine, the amount of which depends on the status of the offender. Individuals will have to pay from 3 to 5 thousand rubles. Officials will be charged from Br30 to Br50 thousand, and legal entities - from Br100 to Br200 thousand.

If the insult was voiced in public space, including the media and the Internet, the amount of the fine is almost doubled, while for legal entities - almost three times, from Br200 to Br700 thousand.

Earlier "Izvestia" wrote that a blogger who insulted Russian girls on the web was detained in Moscow.