Review article
Infodemia in the Time of Covid 19: Criminal Law and Security Aspect
Marko Pilić
; University of Split, University Study Center for Forensic Sciences, Split, Croatia
Maja Pilić
; University of Mostar, Faculty of Law, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Europe and the world has led to a number of legal, economic, medical, security and other challenges. Given the speed with which (dis) information about SARS-CoV-2 is spreading, a new term has emerged – infodemia. Infodemia is a flood of information about the virus, and it is very difficult to distinguish the truth from falsehoods. In addition, the spread of misinformation can have multiple negative consequences, both for the health of the population, mental health in particular, and the awareness of citizens about the current global situation. At the same time, infodemia can be associated with hate speech, which ultimately leads to risky behavior. Namely, such false inscriptions consequently may lead citizens into the criminal zone by disrespecting the epidemiological measures prescribed by competent authorities, which can very easily lead to global illegal action in the form of criminal offense of spreading infectious diseases. To this end, the EU seeks to respond to such undesirable and dangerous phenomena, with concrete measures that can be implemented quickly through existing legal resources. In this paper, the authors are analyzing the problem of false news spreading from criminal law and security aspects, along with comparative solutions. Namely, Croatian criminal legislation does not criminalize the dissemination of false news as a criminal offense. In our legal system the dissemination of false news is prescribed as a misdemeanor in the Misdemeanors against Public Peace and Order Act, which originated in the former state. Following the above, the authors seek to provide answers to a number of legal and security issues. First of all, what are the legal consequences of spreading false news about SARS-CoV-2, how can rumour spreading sanctions be aggravated, where are freedom of the press restrictions, and how do false information affect national security?
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
265205
URI
Publication date:
28.10.2021.
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