It’s only a matter of time before the government’s initiative<\/b> to move to abolish anonymity on the Internet becomes “legislation”<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
An initiative to strengthen its legal arsenal<\/b> against slander<\/b> and targeted attacks on citizens, both anonymous and unnamed, by “hooded”<\/b> users.<\/p>\n
The Minister of Justice, Giorgos Florides,<\/b> adopting the proposal originally tabled by government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis<\/b> and in substantial support of this, announced legislative intervention on deepfake videos,<\/b> “copying” the Danish legal framework, as he suggested. <\/p>\n
The purpose of introducing a strict legal framework to remove anonymity is to make malicious use of the internet a criminal offence,<\/b> so that there can be an effective deal with misinformation and fake news. <\/b><\/p>\n
This is because in recent years there has been a sharp increase in the phenomena of vulgar rumours and slander, threats, insults, slander<\/b> by anonymous Internet users, who, hiding behind it, attempt to brutally harm their fellow human beings.<\/p>\n
“I agree with naming those who are active on the Internet, to put your name and face<\/b>,” the Justice Minister said and pointed out, sending a clear message to the “unscrupulous” users: “If they don’t want to put their details, they should not open accounts.”<\/b><\/p>\n
However, Mr. Florides said that such legislation to name anonymous users should be based on a “broader European legal framework”,<\/b>which is currently being developed, led by Denmark, which has called for strict legislative measures to combat the phenomenon from 2025 and was the first country to introduce strict measures to protect minors. Measures that have been gradually adopted by many European countries, including Greece.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis<\/b> expressed his full support for the legislative initiative to remove anonymity during the last meeting of the Council of Ministers, referring to the need for a “natural counterweight” to the “anonymous, vulgar toxicity of the Internet”.<\/b><\/p>\n
As the Prime Minister pointed out, such a regulation would protect journalists, activists and political figures targeted by anonymous accounts.<\/b> The Prime Minister stressed that the absence of identification makes it difficult to legally protect citizens<\/b> affected by abusive and immoral posts and referred to the government’s dual objective through the legislation, which is to safeguard freedom of expression and to strengthen legal tools against slander and targeted attacks.<\/b><\/p>\n
The impetus for starting discussions on legislation to remove the anonymity of Internet users was given by government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, last March, speaking at the “Athens Alitheia Forum”,<\/b> where among other things he asked: “Let’s take the hoods off the Internet”<\/b>and explained: “We are talking about the need to know behind every pseudonym, behind every user who is actually hiding; to make it very easy for the justice system in communication with the platforms to look for who is the one who is hiding from a possible illegal action”<\/b>.<\/p>\n
In response to the claim by some that this would also mean censorship, the government spokesman clarified that the measure is not about free expression of opinion or criticism,<\/b>but about the possibility of accountability in cases of illegal acts.<\/p>\n Current legal regime for online offences<\/b><\/h2>\n
The truth is that the use of social media<\/b> has sharply increased the occurrence of violations of key criminal provisions, such as those that relate to threats, insult, defamation, simple defamation,<\/b>and that go beyond the boundaries of free expression or publication for public interest reasons.<\/p>\n
Significant amendments have been made to the Criminal Code, which provide for stricter penalties for a number of offences.<\/p>\n
As regards defamation, which is considered the most serious form of defamation where the perpetrator falsely alleges a fact knowing its untruthfulness and because public dissemination is an aggravating circumstance, a obligatory minimum sentence of 6 months and up to 3 years is provided for.<\/b> A fine is also provided for and the offender may also bring an action seeking compensation for the moral damage<\/b> suffered.<\/p>\n
The online offences of insult, defamation and threat are prosecuted by means of a complaint,<\/b> which must be submitted within three months of posting to either the Police Department, the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the Cybercrime Department.<\/p>\n
The legal protection today is clearly stronger, but immediate and timely legal action<\/b>, such as that being initiated by the government, is needed to address the problem radically.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is only a matter of time before the government’s initiative to abolish anonymity on the Internet becomes a “legislative act”.
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