Penza reminded of the responsibility for the publication of someone else’s correspondence

Posting someone else’s personal correspondence without the permission of its participants is a bad idea that can lead to serious consequences. Criminal, administrative and civil liability is provided for this. This was stated in an interview with RT by Honored Lawyer of Russia Ivan Solovyov.

According to the expert, much depends on the circumstances, but in some cases, Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on violation of privacy is applied. For the dissemination of information related to personal or family secrets, you can get a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles or even imprisonment for up to two years. If the violation is related to official position, selfish motives or actions of a group of persons, the term may increase to four years.

In addition, the publication of messages without the consent of participants may fall under Article 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - on violation of the secrecy of correspondence, telephone conversations and other messages. This provision provides for a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles.

The lawyer noted that responsibility comes not only when posting correspondence in open access. Sending other people’s messages in work, family or public group chats can also be regarded as distribution.