Sanctions against the act of posting inaccurate information on social networks
Recently, on the social network appeared untrue information related to male artist Tran Thanh, which greatly affected the prestige, honor, dignity and damage both in terms of property. Specifically, through the "chat" on the social network of two strange girls with content related to male artist Tran Thanh, however, the content of the "chat" is not true and is only for the purpose of "joking"As their report. Whether for the purpose of "joking" or not, they have committed violations of the law and must be handled according to the provisions of law. According to Clause 1, Article 34 of the 2015 Civil Code, the honor, dignity and reputation of individuals are respected and protected by law. So, how do the laws protect the legitimate rights and interests of victims in similar cases? DTD will analyze this issue from a legal perspective.
1. Administrative responsibility
Pursuant to Point b, Clause 3, Article 16 of the Law on Cyber Security 2018:
“3. Information on cyber with humiliating and slanderous content includes:
b) Falsified, untruthful information infringes upon the honor, prestige, dignity or damages to legitimate rights and interests of other agencies, organizations and individuals. "
Accordingly, in addition to the 2015 Civil Code, the 2018 Cyber Security Law stipulates the act of posting false fabricated information on social networks.
In case the act of violation causes no serious consequences, the violating subject shall be administratively sanctioned according to the provisions at Point a, Clause 1, Article 101 of Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP, specifically as follows:
“Article 101. Violation of regulations on responsibility for using social network services
1. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and 20,000,000 for acts of abusing social networks to commit one of the following acts:
a) Providing and sharing fake information, untruthful information, misrepresenting, slandering, insulting the reputation of agencies, organizations, honor and dignity of individuals;
... ... ”.
Note: The above fine level is applicable to organizations. In case of violating individuals, the fine level is equal to 1/2 of the fine imposed on organizations.
Thus, for acts of posting inaccurate information on social networks, which affect the prestige, honor, and dignity of other people, violating individuals will be subject to a fine of between VND 5,000,000 and 10,000,000, based on Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP of the Government.
2. Civil liability
Pursuant to Article 584 of the 2015 Civil Code, anyone who commits acts of infringing upon the honor, dignity and reputation of other people and causes damage shall pay compensation (except for this Code and other relevant laws). other rules). In particular, damages caused by infringement of honor, dignity and reputation are determined in Article 592 of the 2015 Civil Code and guided by Resolution 03/2006/NQ-HDTP, with the following content:
- Reasonable expenses for limiting and remedying damage include: expenses necessary for recovering publications with contents insulting the honor, dignity and prestige of the victims; expenses for collecting documents and evidence proving that their honor, dignity and reputation are infringed upon; money for trains, cars, and boarding houses (if any) at the average prices in localities where expenses are made to request functional agencies to verify incidents and rectify on mass media; expenses for organization of public apology and rectification at the victim's place of residence or workplace and other actual and necessary expenses to limit and remedy damage (if any);
- Actual income lost or decreased:
+ If the honor, dignity and reputation are infringed upon, the infringed person has real income, but due to the honor, dignity and reputation of the infringed person, the following tasks must be done so that limiting and overcoming damage so their actual income is lost or reduced, they will be compensated for such actual or lost income.
+ Determination of actual income of the violated person and determination of actual income lost or impaired shall comply with the guidance in subsection 1.2, Section 1, Part II of Resolution No. 03/2006/NQ-HDTP, specifically:
Step one: Determine whether the victim's actual income during the time of infringement is yes or no. If yes, what is the total income?
Step two: Take the total actual income earned by the victim during the time of infringement against the corresponding actual income determined under the instructions at Point a, Clause 1.2 of this Section. If there is no actual income of the victim during the time of infringement, the actual income of the victim is lost; if lower then the difference is the actual income of the victim is reduced; If equal, the actual income of the person who is injured will not be lost.
- Other damages prescribed by law.
In addition, the person responsible for compensation in this case must also compensate the violator for another sum of money to make up for the mental damage he/she has suffered; The compensation level for compensation for mental damage shall be agreed upon by the parties. If the parties fail to reach an agreement, the maximum level of compensation for a person whose honor, dignity or reputation is infringed shall not exceed ten times the basic salary required countries (the current base salary is 1,490,000 VND/month).
Therefore, the person who has his or her honor, dignity and prestige violated may sue the offender to the competent Court to claim damages.
In order to protect their legitimate rights and interests, the aggrieved person needs to prove the actual losses and losses as a basis for the Court to resolve.
Specifically, in the Tran Thanh’s case, he gave the grounds, justified his losses in fact include: some unfinished advertising contracts have not been signed because of rumors; nearly 10 brands requested Tran Thanh to report the incident; TV shows have been filmed but not yet broadcast;.....
In addition to being sanctioned for administrative violations as well as civil liability, for serious cases of offending human dignity, honor or damaging the legitimate rights and interests of others, they will be prosecuted. Criminal liability in accordance with criminal law.
It can be seen that this behavior is specifically prescribed by law and has a relatively high sanction level. Therefore, in the current development of social networks, every individual needs to know how to use it smartly so as not to cause damage to others as well as to themselves.
