Lawyer warned about fines for defamation in correspondence

Slander in messengers can lead to criminal liability even when discussing in private chats. Ekaterina Dashevskaya, a human rights activist, media technologist, and lawyer, told Izvestia about this on April 15.

"Closed chats have existed for a long time in a state of legal uncertainty, remaining both a space for everyday communication and a tool for building a reputation. They discuss neighbors, teachers, colleagues, management companies, not taking into account that each message is already a dissemination of information," she said.

According to the expert, from the point of view of law, it is enough to communicate information to at least one third party in order for it to be considered information dissemination. At the same time, regulation in this area has been tightened since the end of 2025. In particular, Federal Law No. 529-FZ has given digital interaction a more formalized status, and chats themselves are increasingly seen as a management and communication tool.

In addition, the procedure for handling libel cases has changed.: They have been transferred to the category of private-public charges, which limits the possibility of their termination upon reconciliation of the parties.

The expert emphasized that the key difference is between a value judgment and a statement of fact. If the statement is in the nature of an opinion, it is not subject to verification. However, allegations of wrongdoing, such as allegations of fraud, are treated as facts and require proof.

As Dashevskaya explained, such actions may fall under Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It provides for a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles, mandatory work or other measures, and for public distribution — up to 1 million rubles. Additionally, it is possible to file civil lawsuits demanding refutation of information and compensation for moral damage.

"At the same time, contacting government agencies through official channels is not recognized as spreading information. However, the same statements posted in the chat are qualified as communicating information to third parties," Dashevskaya added.

Mikhail Salkin, a lawyer in civil and criminal matters, said on March 25 that the owners of content generation platforms using artificial intelligence (AI) are not responsible for the harm that can be caused by created images or videos.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.