The crime of defamation committed on social media or the internet can be committed in two different ways:
Damage to the honor and dignity of the person by attributing a certain concrete situation and phenomenon. For example, saying “you stole my computer, you are a thief” to someone via the internet constitutes the crime of insult.
Depreciating and offending the person with general and abstract words and behaviors. For example, calling someone “dishonest” on the internet constitutes a crime of insult.
offense of defamation; Instagram, facebook, twitter, telegram, whatsapp etc. It can be processed over the internet by other methods such as sending e-mail (e-mail), as well as through applications and social media accounts. The person who commits insult on the internet will be punished in accordance with the provisions of TCK article 125:
TCK article 125
1) A person who attributes a concrete act or fact that may offend another person’s honor, honor and dignity, or who attacks another person’s honor, honor and dignity by cursing, is sentenced to imprisonment from three months to two years or a judicial fine. In order for the insult to be punished in the absence of the victim, the act must be committed with at least three people.
(2) If the act is committed with an audio, written or visual message addressed to the victim, the penalty specified in the above paragraph is imposed.
(3) The offense of insult;
a) Due to his duty to a public official,
b) Due to the fact that he explains, changes, tries to spread his religious, political, social, philosophical beliefs, thoughts and convictions, and acts in accordance with the orders and prohibitions of the religion to which he belongs,
c) With reference to the values considered sacred according to the religion of the person, in case of committing it, the lower limit of the penalty cannot be less than one year.
(4) If the insult is committed publicly, the penalty is increased by one sixth.
(5) In case of insulting public officials working as a board due to their duties, the offense is deemed to have been committed against the members of the board. However, in this case, the provisions of the article pertaining to the chain crime are applied.
With Which Words Can An Insult Crime Be Committed On The Internet?
It is impossible to count the words that may constitute the offense of defamation on the Internet one by one in the law. The basic rule for the crime to occur; It is the attacking of a person’s honor, honor or dignity by attributing a concrete act or fact that will offend the honor, honor or dignity of the person with words and behaviors used on the internet, or by cursing. It is seen that the important thing in the crime of insulting via the internet is to punish the actions that offend the person and devalue the society.
By sending a message, tweeting or commenting on the internet, you can be “disgraceful”, “disgraceful”, “idiot”, “stupid”, “animal”, “dumb”, etc. It is obvious that saying such words will constitute the crime of insult.
Some negative comments made to pictures shared on social media (instagram, facebook, twitter, etc.) may also constitute a crime of insult. Even if the fact attributed to the person in the pictures is related to the physical or psychological characteristics of the person, it constitutes the elements of the crime of insult. For example, calling an overweight person “fat of God” or a person with no limbs a “crippled man” constitutes an offense of insult on the internet. Again, a comment like “that’s you” made under a stool picture gives rise to the crime of insulting via the internet.
However, if the concrete fact attributed to the person over the internet is proven, the crime of insult does not occur. For example, the message “you stole my computer” does not constitute a crime of insult if proven. However, it is a crime of insult to say “you are a thief” to a person who has a previous conviction for theft.
Rude, arrogant and disrespectful words and behaviors said on the internet do not constitute the crime of insult. Words do not constitute an insult. Saying “Get out of my page, you’re rude” is a rude behavior and does not constitute a crime of insult.
Again, curse words and behaviors do not constitute the crime of insult. For example, words such as “May God do you as He knows”, “God damn you”, “You have a way to hell”, “May God remove you from your children” on social media are not considered insulting offenses by the Supreme Court since they are curse words.
Criticisms made to people who are known by the public for their deeds do not constitute the crime of insult. For example, football players, artists, politicians should be more open to criticism by the public than normal people. For example, saying to a politician, “This country has become poor because of you, you have sold everyone” is not a heavy criticism and does not constitute a crime of insult.
