The conviction of Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case last week has led to calls for change to a law that treats defamation as a crime and instead to make it a civil offence.
India's main opposition Congress party’s leader Rahul Gandhi holds a news conference, after he was disqualified as a lawmaker by India's parliament on Friday, at party’s headquarter in New Delhi, India, March 25, 2023. REUTERS/ Anushree Fadnavis/File Photoin a criminal defamation case last week has led to calls for change to a law that treats defamation as a crime and instead to make it a civil offence.
Anyone found guilty of criminal defamation can be jailed but a civil offence means they can only be made to pay damages. "Criminal defamation laws have an inhibitory and silencing effect, even before a conviction,” it said. While the United States does not have any federal criminal defamation laws, about 20 of its states and territories still have them, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in a 2021 report.
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