“Any doubt about the essence of the information must be proved in accordance of principle of a fair process” — Tatiana Tereshchenko for FederalPress
Members of the Federation Council are drafting amendments to the Code of administrative offences, providing for the introduction of fines in the amount of 50-150 thousand rubles for the dissemination of false information. According to the authors, such an initiative is designed to protect citizens from the panic caused by the broadcast of unverified data. At the same time, punishment will be provided for the dissemination of false information on any subject. Tatiana Tereshchenko, head of analytical Department of "Prime Advice":
"The risk of abuse is high enough. And shifting the burden of tracking and, most importantly, the assessment of credibility to some authorities is not exactly a balanced decision. Evaluation of information is the result of an analysis of all the factual circumstances and the task of the court. In terms of the principle of freedom of search, collection and dissemination of information, which is enshrined in the Federal law № 149-FZ "On information, information technologies and information protection", as well as the presumption of good faith (p. 3 art. 1, p. 5 art. 10 CC) any doubt as to the substance of the information must be proved in accordance with the principle of a fair trial.
Such a proposal is a kind of reflection of the general trend on the problems of information security: the processing of information through technology is a reality, and cyberattacks are a serious threat. For example, there is a tightening of personal data protection requirements and an increase in fines for violations in this area. Thus, among the legislative initiatives proposals for the introduction of additional obligations for owners of public networks in the territory of the Russian Federation, access to which during the day is more than 100 thousand users. It is proposed to give the user of the social network the right to demand from the owner of the network within 24 hours from the moment of receipt of the corresponding request to restrict access or remove the socially significant false information presented in it, for the distribution of which criminal or administrative liability is provided."