Lawsuits help stop reprints in the media, but clearing posts in anonymous channels is possible only at the request of Telegram itself
Rector of the Saratov State Law Academy Ekaterina Ilgova obtained a court decision to block a post in one of the telegram channels.
She filed a civil claim with the Oktyabrsky District Court, which on December 28 made a decision in her favor, which was not appealed and entered into legal force.
The subject of the claim was “to establish the fact of dissemination of information that does not correspond to reality, discrediting honor and dignity” and “to restrict access to such information.”
Ilgova’s dissatisfaction was caused by a post in the telegram channel “Mockingjay” dated July 27, 2022, which, as it seemed to her, contained unfair accusations – of committing crimes under Art. 160, 285.1 and 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) (misappropriation or embezzlement, misappropriation of budget funds, abuse of official authority).
It spoke of the allegedly forced deduction of 500 rubles from the scholarships of SSLA students and the use of these funds “to support the residents of Donbass.”
The text of the document posted on the authority’s website states that the investigation department of OP No. 5 as part of the Saratov Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated a criminal case for libel in connection with Ilgova’s statement.
The reason was the same post in the telegram channel, but the investigation was suspended “due to the failure to identify the person to be charged as an accused.”
Taking into account the available materials, Judge Dmitry Apokin decided to satisfy Ilgova’s claim – “to establish a fact of legal significance, namely: to recognize the information disseminated in the tg channel “Mockingjay” as untrue and discrediting the business reputation” of the plaintiff, and “to limit access to information resources posted on the page on the Internet information and telecommunications network at the following address: https://t.me/peresmeshnitsaS/2018“. In other words, only the URL of the message recognized as defamatory of the rector of SSLA will be blocked.
Ilgova herself did not come to the consideration of her claim, but sent a representative. Representatives of the regional department of Roskomnadzor, summoned as an interested party, did not appear at the meeting.
The court decision does not mention calling anyone from Telegram LLC in the same capacity, and Judge Apokin made a decision in a special (expedited) procedure.
Another oddity, which does not fit in with the fact that we are talking about a claim by the rector of a university training judges, is that it is almost impossible to find information on Ilgova’s claim in the court file through the search system.
Despite the fact that the case was heard in open court, information about the applicant was hidden in the file cabinet (although the decision itself contains the plaintiff’s personal data).
Claims against Telegram are the latest judicial and political practice in the Saratov region, which has yet to be analyzed by lawyers.
Legal experts may wish to review a copy of the court decision […]
Today in the Zavodsky District Court it is planned to announce a decision on the claim of the speaker of the regional Duma Mikhail Isaev against the messenger.
Judging by the content of the claim, the posts were mainly about Isaev’s activities as mayor of Saratov (held in 2017-2022).
For example, it was reported that the mayor allegedly received funds from the “black cash register” of the MUSPP “Ritual” (through the mediation of brother Dmitry).
It was also said that certain traditions of “quiet corruption” were introduced with Isaev’s arrival at the mayor’s office, and also that he probably took concrete steps “to rake in all the money from the city utilities.”
The lawsuit mentions, among other things, harmlessly ironic posts – for example, about the intention of the Saratov administration to purchase sweepers at the price of Maybachs.
IA “Vzglyad-info”, 01/16/2023, “Isaev against Telegram. The judge upheld the claim against three anonymous channels”: Initially, the plaintiff insisted on deleting individual messages in the anonymous TG channels “Actually”, “One Grandmother Said”, “Rustles of Kumyski”, “Mockingjay”, “Theater of an Adult Spectator”, “Our Man in the Cheka”. […]
Mikhail Isaev believes that since he does not appear in criminal cases related to this topic, it means that the disputed posts in the channels discredit his reputation.
After leaving the deliberation room, the judge decided to satisfy the claim and recognize the legal fact of the unreliability of information about Isaev in three of the six above-mentioned channels. According to Tkachenko’s decision, access to four posts in “One Grandmother…”, “Mockingjay” and “Our Man in the Cheka”, published in 2021-2022, should be limited. — Insert K.ru
“Kommersant”, 01/17/2023, “Saratov speaker condemned Telegram”: In Roskomnadzor’s response to the court request, which was also read by Yulia Tkachenko, it is said that, in accordance with its regulatory documents, Telegram channels are not distributors of information, Roskomnadzor does not have information about their owners and cannot identify the latter. […]
The head of the Argument legal bureau, Andrei Larin, is surprised that the decision on Speaker Isaev’s claim was made at the very first meeting. “The information may or may not be damaging, but it takes expertise to figure it out. In my practice, it has never been the case that a decision in a defamation case was made on the first day,” explains the expert. However, he does not consider such a decision to be a precedent that will be followed by many similar lawsuits. “This is a common practice: a person asks to recognize certain information as discrediting his reputation. It is not clear how this will be implemented; I think no one even notified the Telegram head office in Dubai about the decision of the Saratov district court. And only the company itself can block a message. I believe this is being done to recognize the information as defamatory and to protect against its dissemination in other sources, for example, the media,” believes Mr. Larin. — Insert K.ru
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