Criminal liability for slander will apply to authors of Telegram channels - Russian MP Vyatkin
MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) - A bill introducing criminal liability for defamatory statements made online will apply both to bloggers and authors of Telegram channels, Russian State Duma member Dmitry Vyatkin, the author of the initiative, told Interfax on Wednesday.
"Telegram channels involve public dissemination of information as well. It is also possible to have such channels on other resources. There is LiveJournal. None of them fall under the term media, but they publicly spread information," Vyatkin said.
In accordance with the bill, public defamatory statements, including those circulated on the Internet, shall be punishable by up to two years in prison.
"In this case, criminal responsibility should act as a deterrent," he said.
It is not necessary to immediately apply a tough measure such as imprisonment for slander on the Internet, "but even the threat of such penalty may sober people up," Vyatkin said.
"The audience of traditional media outlets is much smaller than the audience of different blogs and channels," but, at the same time, "whereas we have responsibility for slander on the media, we do not have it for slander on the Internet," he said.
Vyatkin submitted the aforementioned bill on December 14. The State Duma is expected to debate it in the first reading at its session on December 22.
