The war in Ukraine and the shooting at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University brought with it a number of voices that approved of these actions. Many of them emerged in the online environment, where we often feel unthreatened and anonymous. In reality, however, this is not the case, because the authors of such comments can often be easily traced. In this article, we will look at how legislation regulates the approval of a crime and how this works in the case of the internet.
Freedom of speech or freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights. It is the right of a person to express opinions, ideas and beliefs without fear of censorship or punishment by the state. This right is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, as well as in a number of international human rights agreements, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN) or the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Council of Europe).
Although freedom of expression is a fundamental right, it is not absolute and there are certain restrictions which aim to protect other important interests. And one of these restrictions is the approval of a crime.
Tip: What are our basic human rights and how can we protect them? Find out in our article.
Endorsing a crime is when someone publicly expresses approval of a crime being committed. This act can take many forms, including verbal expression, written expression, sharing content on social media or other public expression.
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Approval of a crime is a form of criminal cooperation. It is a criminal offence regulated by the Criminal Code. It states that anyone who publicly approves of a crime committed or who publicly praises the perpetrator for the crime shall be punished by imprisonment for up to one year. Similarly, anyone who seeks to show approval of a crime by rewarding or compensating the offender or someone close to the offender for the punishment, or who organises a collection for such reward or compensation, may be punished.
Other forms of criminal cooperation are also closely related to the approval of a crime. The closest of these is incitement to commit a crime, which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment. This also includes abetting, i.e. helping an offender to escape prosecution, punishment or protective measures; failure to prevent and failure to report a crime.
Approving a crime is wrong and criminal for several reasons:
Tip: What is a crime and how do we divide crimes? Read our next article.
The approval of a crime is nowadays mostly encountered on the Internet. Most often in various discussions on articles or on social networks. People often lose their inhibitions here and feel safe behind the screen. The fact that so-called social bubbles are forming on the Internet is also contributing to this. These are environments in which people are only exposed to information, opinions and content that confirm their own views and ideas.
These bubbles are most often created as a result of social networking algorithms. They work by showing content to their users based on their previous interactions and interests. These users are then increasingly exposed to views and content that match their views and perceptions of the world.
But at the same time, users’ own activity also contributes to this. Indeed, people generally tend to seek out and follow sources of information that confirm their own views. For example, they may follow specific groups or individuals who share their worldview.
In social bubbles, then, opinions can easily become radicalized because people only hear and see confirmation of their own ideas all the time. And if such a group unanimously approves of a particular crime, other people will safely join in.
A concrete current example is the approval of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, a heated debate has developed around the war and a large group has formed that approves of Russian aggression. A lot of the approval has taken place on the Internet.
However, the Internet is not as anonymous as it may seem at first sight, and many people have been accused of endorsing the crime. Indeed, people in the online environment are often easily traceable.
If they are acting under their own name, the tracing process is clear. If they are acting anonymously, then it is usually enough to find out the IP address, which most people leave visible. Every device connected to the Internet has a unique IP address. This can be used to identify and track the user. Web servers also keep records of visitors, including their IP addresses, access times, pages visited and other information. For these reasons alone, you should therefore think twice about potentially criminal activity on the Internet and not rely on non-existent security and anonymity.
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Endorsement of crime is a serious issue that can take many forms, from public speeches to written posts on the internet. The Penal Code clearly sets out penalties for endorsing crimes, in an attempt to prevent the incitement of further crimes and to protect victims from psychological harm. The Internet environment, where inhibitions are often lost and radicalising social bubbles are created, poses a particular challenge. Although the Internet may appear to provide anonymity, this is not the case. Thanks to technical means, it is possible to track and identify specific users.
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Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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