Cyberbullying and responsibility

In “M., S.D. s/ denuncia”, the Juvenile Court of Formosa analyzed the merits of a criminal complaint filed by the parents of a minor, for libel suffered by the latter regarding false information that was shared through WhatsApp and Facebook by some of her classmates.

First, the judge highlighted the decision of the Court on Criminal and Correctional Matters No. 22 of the City of Buenos Aires in “Lang, M. L. c/ Frydlewsky, M. S. s/ Calumnias” (for more information, please see here), where it was established that the grievances between individuals on social networks fall within the crime of libeling (before so, such offenses were not criminalized and therefore exempt from liability). However, the Juvenile Court of Formosa’s judge understood that since it was a privately actionable crime and the accussed were minors under 18 years old, they were not punishable on the basis of Article 1 of Law No. 22,278.

Consequently, after considering that the access and interaction of minors online needs to be legislated, the judge analyzed how the risks to which minors are exposed while using social networks can be mitigated from a legal standpoint. Thus, the judge went on the concept of cyberbullying, by referring to it as any “abuse suffered by a minor, by actions of another minor, through the Internet or other electronic means”. Similarly, she analyzed that even though the aforementioned law does not expressly refer to it, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Law No. 26,061 on the Comprehensive Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents provide that minors shall not be subjected to violent, discriminatory, humiliating or intimidating treatment. Therefore, the judge concluded that bearing in mind that justice is a suitable means of educating and correcting bad behaviors, she recommended the accused minors to read Article 9 of the Law on the Comprehensive Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents No. 26,061 and a press article titled “UNICEF and INADI launch campaign against cyberbullying on World Internet Day”.

Finally, the judge stressed that the parents of the minors are jointly responsible for damages caused by their children (Article 1754 of the Argentine Civil and Commercial Code), and therefore deemed it appropriate to remind the victim of the relevant action for damages that may be promoted.