Protecting honor and dignity on the Internet: is it real?

1. A citizen has the right to demand in court a refutation of information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation, unless the person who disseminated such information proves that it is true. The refutation must be made in the same way in which information about the citizen was disseminated, or in another similar way.

At the request of interested parties, it is possible to protect the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen even after his death.

2. Information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen and disseminated in the media must be refuted in the same media. A citizen in respect of whom the specified information has been disseminated in the media has the right to demand, along with a refutation, that his response also be published in the same media.

3. If information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen is contained in a document emanating from an organization, such a document is subject to replacement or revocation.

4. In cases where information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen has become widely known and, in connection with this, a refutation cannot be brought to public knowledge, the citizen has the right to demand the removal of the relevant information, as well as the suppression or prohibition of further dissemination of this information by seizure and destruction, without any compensation, of copies of material media containing the specified information made for the purpose of introducing into civil circulation, if without destroying such copies of material media, deleting the relevant information is impossible.

5. If information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen turns out to be available on the Internet after its distribution, the citizen has the right to demand the removal of the relevant information, as well as a refutation of this information in a way that ensures that the refutation is communicated to Internet users.

6. The procedure for refuting information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen in cases other than those specified in paragraphs 2 - 5 of this article is established by the court.

7. Application of penalties to the violator for failure to comply with a court decision does not relieve him of the obligation to perform the action prescribed by the court decision.

8. If it is impossible to identify the person who disseminated information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen, the citizen in respect of whom such information was disseminated has the right to apply to the court to declare the disseminated information untrue.

9. A citizen in respect of whom information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation has been disseminated, along with a refutation of such information or publication of his response, has the right to demand compensation for losses and compensation for moral damage caused by the dissemination of such information.

10. The rules of paragraphs 1 - 9 of this article, with the exception of provisions on compensation for moral damage, can also be applied by the court to cases of dissemination of any untrue information about a citizen, if such a citizen proves that the specified information does not correspond to reality. The limitation period for claims made in connection with the dissemination of the specified information in the media is one year from the date of publication of such information in the relevant media.

11. The rules of this article on the protection of a citizen’s business reputation, with the exception of provisions on compensation for moral damage, respectively apply to the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity.

• Article 151. Compensation for moral damage
• Article 152.1. Protection of a citizen's image

Where can defamatory information be located and who is responsible?

Defamatory and unreliable information on the Internet can be posted on the following sites:

• MASS MEDIA.
• Blogs (text or video blogs).
• Social media.
• Sites created specifically for discrediting or existing for other reasons.
• Review sites.

Responsibility for published (or broadcast) information most often lies either directly with the user who does it, or with the owner of the resource on which this information was made public.

How will the information be refuted?

If you are faced with a situation where false information has been disseminated about you, you first need to turn to the law. It is best to study Article 151 of the Civil Code.

It is necessary to decide on the method by which the data was disseminated. There are several main provisions here that clarify the whole situation.

Defamatory information should be deleted, and a refutation subsequently published

Important ! It is also important to note such a situation when it is impossible to identify the culprit. Despite this, a person can still claim protection of his rights. In this situation, it is best to immediately go to court with a request to invalidate the information. In addition, the publication of any materials in the public domain must be stopped.

In contrast to the claim that the guilty party compensates for the damage, you also need to remember about the refutation of information. They are subject to certain statutes of limitations, which will be 3 years from the date of violation. This must be remembered, and it is best to seek help from the judicial authorities in advance with such problems. The only exceptions will be those related to the publication of false information in the media. In this case, it is best to hurry up, because the statute of limitations is only 12 months from the date of publication of such data.

In any case, if you are faced with such a problematic situation, then it is best to immediately take care of protecting your rights as a citizen of our country. This is what will allow you to avoid the repetition of similar cases in the future, not only in your specific situation, but among all citizens of the country. And if every citizen pays attention to this, then soon the offenders will be punished, and there will be fewer and fewer of them. You need to remember that in this case you care not only about yourself, but also about other citizens who at some point are afraid to carry out such a procedure. Give attention and publicity to these cases, and then such difficulties will become much less common among the population.

Opinion or defamatory information?

Wording is of great importance. If the person who is defaming your name uses careful wording (the words “perhaps,” “probably,” “it seems to me”), he always has the opportunity to say that this is his private opinion, which cannot be a judicial issue. Of course, what exactly they say is also important. For example, if a user expresses a personal opinion about you, this cannot be a basis for demanding that this information be retracted. But if he accuses you of fraud, this is easy to check and confirm or refute. If the offender lied, he will have to answer for his words according to the law.

What could be defamatory or untrue information?

Untrue information

– statements about facts or events that did not take place in reality at the time to which the disputed information relates.

Defamatory information

– those information that contain allegations of a violation by a citizen or legal entity of the current legislation, the commission of a dishonest act, incorrect, unethical behavior in personal, public or political life, dishonesty in the implementation of production, economic and entrepreneurial activities, violation of business ethics or business customs, that belittle the honor, dignity of a citizen or the business reputation of a citizen or legal entity.

The key points are:

• The fact of dissemination of information.
• Defamatory nature of the information.
• Their inconsistency with reality.

What about legislation?

It can be noted that the laws have long provided for the possibility of exercising the right to protection of honor and dignity. At that time, definitions were already given to the basic concepts, and several protection options were provided. This could be constitutional, civil, administrative, disciplinary and criminal liability. All principles of protection were also prescribed in this project. This included the equality of all people before the law, as well as much more.

Important ! For the first time such a bill was considered in the State Duma in 1999, it passed the first reading, and after that it was withdrawn from consideration in 2010.

Previously, it was possible to exercise the right to protection of honor and dignity

What punishment can be imposed on the culprit?

There are two ways to resolve the situation: pre-trial proceedings and going to court.

Pre-trial proceedings

Can be done through Roskomnadzor. You can contact it and demand the removal of information that discredits your good name. If the information distributed contains personal information (full name, photo), you can also file a complaint with Roskomnadzor. A decision on such an appeal must be made within 30 days. If the complaint is confirmed, Roskomnadzor will contact the resource owners and demand that personal data be deleted.

Reasons for removing information:

• Insults, personal data, illegal processing of personal information.
• Incorrect information.
• Invalid information.

Finally, you can contact your hosting provider directly and demand that they remove information that is untrue and defames you.

Trial

Important!

In the event of a trial, determining the identity of the defendant is not always as simple as it might seem at first glance. For example, even a blogger can always say that his face (persona) was used to convey an opinion that he does not share. By making the excuse that he filmed (wrote) for himself and did not intend to post this information, a person can thereby waive responsibility by transferring it to the administrator of the blog or site, and possibly its owner.

In such a situation, you can file an application to establish the fact (special proceedings). You will have to prove to the court that it is impossible to establish the identity of the person who published the information (as evidence, there may be letters on your behalf to the administration of the site on which the information was posted, asking to reveal the identity of the person who published it). Two factors are important here: the fact of dissemination of information and its defamatory nature. If a specific person is identified during the process, this application will be subsequently ignored.

How is CF compensated?

It must be remembered that causing harm carries with it compensation. This is written about in Article 151. CF presupposes, first of all, some kind of emotional experience. CF most often concerns a person's mental state, and will also disturb the peace of mind. This is undergoing some moral suffering, infringement of freedom.

MV is mentioned in many articles of the Civil Code, but most of all it is written about in Article 151. The obligation of every person who caused harm is compensation. This allows you to insult a person with impunity.

Compensation is due for violation of rights

Each victim must indicate in the claim the amount he wants to recover from the offender. After this, the judicial authorities, using normative acts, establish the size that they consider necessary.

Important ! Under no circumstances should the courts take the side of the offender and let the case pass by. This will lead other people to create such conflict situations in the future.

What you need to present to the court to protect your intangible assets

Despite the fact that the current legislation of the state does not have a clear concept of honor, dignity and business reputation, this does not at all interfere with their judicial protection in practice.

Thus, in order to carry out judicial protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, the presence of a single factor is necessary - an encroachment on such personal non-property benefits from the outside. In other words, the injured person is obliged to present to the court all materials that indicate this fact. If possible, they should be supported by significant testimony from witnesses, as well as documentary sources or, for example, excerpts from publications in which the slander was published.

The whole essence of the trial in cases of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is for both parties to prove that they are right. In these cases, the principle of the presumption of integrity applies, which means the truthfulness of all information provided until the court proves otherwise during the proceedings on the merits.

Dignity

The concept of dignity is also not disclosed in the regulations of the Russian Federation as such, but is often found in the norms of civil, criminal legislation and in other areas of application of law. Dignity is a person’s assessment of his own moral or business qualities. The laws of different countries state that dignity, like honor, is an integral part of any person on the planet.

In the legal environment, this concept is often used in relation to legal entities, which can be enterprises, institutions or organizations of various forms of ownership.

General concept of honor

What is honor? This concept is not specified in the laws in force in the Russian Federation. However, it is well known to every person. In its simplest sense, honor is the assessment of a particular person from the point of view of society. In other words, it is customary to call honor all the worthy moral qualities of a person, as well as the complex of his fundamental principles. In some sources, this concept is interpreted as an integral part of personality, expressed in a person’s feelings towards himself.

What is honor, business reputation and dignity?

Honor is, first of all, a social concept. Honor means an assessment from society, and an assessment with a plus sign. The dignity of a citizen and the reputation of an organization are measured by honor.

Business reputation implies an objective (with a plus and a minus sign) public opinion about a citizen or a legal entity. Let's move on to the concept of dignity. There is some division here:

A) honor and dignity of a legal entity

B) honor and dignity of a citizen (individual)

In case “B” the concept of dignity seems much broader and more diverse. You can remember about human, national, female and male dignity. Of course, the recognition of man as the highest social value has so far been carried out only at the level of science fiction writers and in the programs of humanitarian organizations.

However, in a legal sense, the protection of human dignity is a living concept, not a myth. Respect for the basic human rights of life, ensuring appropriate conditions for him - this is what is meant by respect for human dignity.

Let's return to point “A” (honor and dignity of a legal entity). Everything is much simpler here. As a rule, we are talking about integrity in business. Sometimes communities of people and social movements ask for the protection of dignity. In this case, one simple rule applies: only legal entities can count on civil legal protection. If you are a member of such a public organization, remember that only individual citizens, as representatives, can demand protection of their personal honor and dignity.

Removing false information

Another method of protection is the requirement to remove defamatory information or stop its further dissemination. If the information was published in a newspaper, they may demand that the entire circulation be withdrawn from sale, but this requires a quick response, so this scenario is unlikely.

The worst situation is with the Internet; it is very difficult to completely remove information from there. That is why two methods, such as deleting information and publishing a refutation, are used simultaneously.

Dueling Ritual

A duel always implied the presence of a strict and carefully executed ritual, adherence to which, in the noble system of coordinates, distinguished a noble duel from a banal murder. As a rule, a duel began with a challenge, which, in turn, was preceded by conflict and insult to honor.

Traditionally, there are two types of insult: verbal and action. The most common and most painful verbal insult is “scoundrel,” since it not only accuses of dishonor, but also equates the nobleman with a person of “mean”, inferior origin. Insults such as “coward” or “liar” were also very common, which cast doubt on whether a person had the qualities so important to a nobleman.

Insult by action was more severe, since it boiled down to treating the nobleman as a commoner who could be hit. In this case, it was not at all necessary to cause bodily harm - it was enough to just swing. However, the most common offensive action was a slap in the face or a blow with a glove, which completely symbolized the reluctance to “get your hands dirty.”

The offended party demanded satisfaction, or satisfaction, and any communication between the duelists at this moment ceased - all responsibilities were transferred to the shoulders of the seconds, who took on two functions, organizational and “lawyer.” From the position of the organizers, the seconds were involved in arranging the duel, agreed on weapons, time and place of the duel, were intermediaries in the communication of their principals and sent a written challenge, or cartel, to the enemy.

The second was also obliged to try to reconcile the warring parties and be ready at any moment to act as a replacement for his principal, so people who were close to him were chosen as seconds - relatives, but more often than not, friends. However, we should not forget that a duel was a crime and seconds were punished no less severely for participation in it than the duelists themselves.

As a rule, the duel was held the next day after the insult, since a duel directly on the day of the insult turned a noble duel into a vulgar skirmish and all the significance of the ritual was lost.

However, it was possible to postpone the duel for a longer period - for example, if the duelist needed to put his affairs in order or serve a military campaign. In each individual case, the opponents and seconds decided whether the reason for the postponement was sufficiently valid, since the demand to postpone the duel for a clearly disrespectful reason was considered an additional insult.

The duel was most often held outside the city, if possible in a deserted place

Naturally, special requirements were placed on the clothing of the duelists during battle (decent clothing, without any protection) and on weapons (it had to be the same and not previously used by the duelists).

Any disregard for the rules of dueling etiquette primarily humiliated the duelist himself, but there were ways to humiliate the enemy as well: for example, being late for a duel was perceived as disrespect and contemptuous attitude towards the enemy.

At the same time, the unspoken rules of dueling in Russia were extremely cruel. Duelists often shot at very close range, and the etiquette of a truce during a duel, although it existed, did not always come into force. In addition, the charge in pistols was usually reduced, thereby reducing the chances of those being shot to survive. If the duelist did not die, but was wounded, the bullet would become firmly stuck in his body, which made treatment difficult and often led to a long and painful death.

Reasons for the duel

It was up to the person offended to decide how much honor was damaged and whether the insult was worth killing, but society identified the main reasons for the conflict, which could escalate into a duel.

• Differences in political views are the least common cause of conflict in Russia; nevertheless, clashes on political grounds periodically occurred with foreigners, but the state monitored “international” duels much more strictly, so they did not happen so often.
• Service conflicts that began on the basis of service were more severe in nature, since almost every nobleman served in Russia. For many, service became an end in itself, so to humiliate service achievements or doubt them meant hurting honor. Such duels, however, were not particularly widespread.
• Defense of regimental honor can be considered as a separate reason for the duel: it meant too much to the officers, so the slightest ridicule required retaliatory action. Moreover, defending the honor of the regiment was an honor.
• Protection of family honor - any insult to a person belonging to a particular family was regarded by members of the clan as a personal insult. Insults inflicted on deceased relatives, women and the elderly, that is, those who cannot stand up for themselves, were particularly acute.
• At a separate level was the protection of a woman’s honor. And if unmarried girls tried to protect themselves from duels associated with their name (a stain on their reputation), then many married women did not mind being in the center of attention, sometimes deliberately provoking their husbands and lovers into clashes. To insult a woman’s honor, specific actions were not necessarily needed - a hint was enough, especially if it was hinted at an unacceptable relationship of a married woman, which, naturally, cast a shadow on her husband. It was impossible to ignore this.
• Rivalry between men over a woman is also a different story: the conflict usually flared up over an unmarried girl, who, however, already had suitors. If both men had designs on the same woman, a clash between them was inevitable.
• Protecting the weak. A particularly heightened sense of honor forced the nobleman to suppress any attempts to humiliate the dignity of the nobility as a whole. If a nobleman allowed himself to insult the “weak” (for example, a person at a lower level of the social hierarchy), another could act as a noble defender and punish the offender for unworthy behavior.
• However, domestic quarrels remained the most common. Since among the nobility the ability to behave properly was considered one of the fundamental features of noble upbringing, a nobleman who dared to behave unworthily seemed to offend the honor of the entire nobility in general and each nobleman individually. Special areas of everyday life predisposing to duels were hunting, theater, racing, gambling and other activities involving a competitive spirit.

Forensic psychological examination

Often in judicial practice in cases of protection of honor and dignity of a person, a type of examination such as forensic psychological is used. It is designed to establish the level of moral damage caused due to the fact of belittling the honor and dignity of a person. This procedure is carried out exclusively by professional forensic psychologists.

As part of such activities, it is necessary to determine whether the victim experiences psychological changes as a result of an attack on his honor, dignity and business reputation and whether they are a consequence of this particular event. In addition, it is also determined whether these events caused a psychotraumatic effect and to what extent it is measured. At this stage, specialists can consider the need to prescribe material compensation for damage received as a result of moral shock. In the process of such a study, the fact is also established whether there was such a consequence as a decrease in self-esteem in the person against whom the attack on honor and freedom was committed.

In the process of such an examination, the question is also raised as to whether the created circumstance (for example, the fact of the dissemination of false information about a person) can create an unfavorable background for his reputation, including business.

The results provided by the expert commission are sent to the court to consider the case on the merits. As practice shows, the court very often makes the main decision based on the data provided and the testimony of witnesses. The testimony given in court by the offender and the victim is also of great importance.

In addition to the submissions of a forensic psychological examination, the provided medical reports, certificates, as well as other reporting and settlement documents can also be of significant importance in determining decisions in cases of protection of honor and dignity. All of them must confirm the amount of damage caused, both moral and material - on their basis, the amount to be paid by the culprit to the injured person can also be formed.