Defamation is false or truthful information aimed at worsening the reputation of a particular person in the eyes of other people or society as a whole. Today in the era of the Internet and the abundance of media, one can observe the effect of defamation constantly.
Defamation - what is it?
What does defamation mean? This term comes from the Latin fama - reputation, and the word diffamatio - disclosure. In the modern world, defamation is the dissemination of information, facts that can harm a person and disgrace her reputation , honor and dignity. Defamation is often practiced in show business and political circles. Is an offense.
Defamation and slander - differences
Defamation and slander are similar concepts, in Europe they are even identical, but they are different terms, there are differences between them:
- Defamation can be truthful, without slanderous information, in the biography of any person, one can find "actions that do not adorn" the person and actions.
- Slander is a knowingly false distortion of facts and distribution of them not only through the press, but also verbally or in writing.
Types of defamation
Defamation is a generic concept. The correspondence or inconsistency of the disseminated information of reality and, depending on how the distributor refers to his actions, distinguishes the following types of defamation:
- Intentional unreliable defamation - information published in the press deliberately false, can also be called slander.
- Unintentional unreliable defamation - false defamatory information is not verified and is extended further.
- Trustworthy defamation is truthful information, but capable of violating reputation, discrediting a person in the eyes of society.
It turns out that defamation can mean both gossip and true truth, called, for example, to expose a person in pernicious acts. If defamation is based on defamation, the distributor is criminalized, but there are difficulties with proving that defamation is part of a crime against a person.
Media diffusion
Defamation in the media and its elements the realities of today. Freedom of speech and the absence of censorship allow us to express our opinion, "our truth" and express it through television, the Internet, and the press. In court, lawsuits against defamation are not often considered, but there are such precedents and if the information was intentionally false, a large financial penalty could be imposed, and if a person can not pay this fine, he can be forced to work.
The feeling of impunity leads to the fact that people on different sites, forums can insult one another, discuss media personalities, savor unreliable information about others and "build up" slander as a snowball. Often defamation can be anonymous. An example of deliberate unreliable defamation can serve as the following case when a police officer posted a photo of the victim on the Internet with information that he is a sex minority and is looking for partners for his acquaintance. The story ended with the dismissal of a policeman from law enforcement agencies.
Another example of veiled defamation. A well-known politician sues an equally well-known writer, appealing that she in her book gives false information. The writer portrayed in her work a politician in an unsightly, defamatory manner. But writers benefit from what is at the beginning of each book, the text: "All characters and phenomena, names are fictitious, and coincidences are accidental."
Defamation in Civil Law
Defamation in the law of most countries is considered an offense. Civil-law defamation - there is a violation of privacy, humiliation of honor and dignity of the individual, is considered two articles of the Civil Code of the RF - 150, 152. Restore your "good name" by filing a retaliatory claim for compensation for moral harm and compensation for material benefits, if any was and was missed.
Civil defamation is closely related to freedom of speech, and the protection of such non-material goods as honor, reputation and dignity rests on Article 29 of the RF Constitution on freedom of thought and speech, therefore defamation can be considered as a legal institution through which civil law simultaneously exercises constitutional rights and to protect honor and freedom of speech and of mass information.
Professional defamation
The meaning of defamation is treated as "defame", and in the light of what information with negative contexts spread, it is possible to single out a separate type of defamation - professional, or in another way business defamation, while disseminating information discrediting the business reputation of a person or the organization as a whole. The subversion of professional defamation is business or defamation in the business sphere ("intrigues of competitors").
Religious defamation
Defamation in religion is the discrimination of a certain kind of religion and an insult to the feelings of believers, blasphemy and ridicule of the canons and rites used in this religion. A big resonance in the society of different countries was caused by the resolution signed in 2005 by the UN General Assembly "Struggle against defamation of religions", calling for the prohibition of criticism and dissemination of blasphemous information about religion.
The resolution notes that defamation of religion is a gross and serious insult to human religious feelings leading to xenophobia and inciting war on religious grounds. But not everything is so smooth, the opponents of the resolution note that the concept can be used at its own discretion and discrimination of the already religious majority over the minority that do not agree. And it turns out that there is a violation of freedom of speech and expression of their opinion, even if it is not blasphemous, the doctrine of the Church can use at its discretion
Defamation - methods
The concepts of defamation and defamation and response rights must be known to every person in order to be able to defend himself in the event that his false reputation is exposed to false incriminating information. Depending on the type of defamation, there are methods by which it manifests itself:
- Simple defamation - defamatory information spreads unqualified, in the oral form, in places of congestion of a large number of people: at a meeting, official receptions, in a work collective, or in the presence of several witnesses.
- Defamation through the media - printing in periodicals, in television, on the radio and via the Internet.
- Defamation in the official documentation - in outgoing documents from the organization, for example, in the labor characteristics of a person.