Behind a screen, a keyboard and the Internet, many are brave and courageous. However, the situation is completely the opposite in real life.
What most people do not know is that this desire to offend and insult though social networks is such a serious issue that it can lead people to the court.
In Costa Rica, there are sentences for offending and insulting people through social networks. The most recent case is related to an entrepreneur from Turrialba, who was sentenced for offending Josué Hernandez, who manages Turrialba Digital.
The case dates back to December 2015, when the journalist covered news on an entrepreneur’s close one. 3 days later, the accused took an unauthorized photograph of Hernández and posted it on Facebook, where he called him ‘clown’ to discredit his work.
This harsh situation forced the journalist to take the case to court.
Turrialba Criminal Court convicted the businessman as responsible for publishing offensive comments against Hernández and for committing a crime of defamation. As a result, he will have to pay 80,000 colones as compensation.
According to the journalist, the moral is that a keyboard doesn’t allow anyone to tarnish someone’s reputation and people need to understand that what you do on social networks has a consequence on real life.