This article analyzes the inhibitory effect that the definition of criminal
offences of libel and slander has on the exercise of freedom of expression in our country.
The central role that freedom of expression fulfills in a democratic society contrasts with the deficient compatibility that these criminal types make between the protection of reputation – specially of public persons – and the legitimate exercise of free speech. In this way, the strategic treatment of these criminal offenses has transformed them into true institutions that inhibit the exercise of the right to inform and therefore to be informed.
Keywords:
Freedom of expression, right to honor, human rights, inhibitory effect
Author Biographies
Pablo Agustín Viollier Bonvin, University of Chile
Pablo Viollier Bonvin es abogado. Licenciado en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales de la Universidad de Chile. Actualmente es analista de políticas públicas de la ONG Derechos Digitales
Matías Salinas Salgado, University of Chile
Matías Salinas Salgado es abogado. Licenciado en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales de la Universidad de Chile. Es investigador de la Unidad de Derechos Humanos de la Corte de Apelaciones de San Miguel
Viollier Bonvin, P. A., & Salinas Salgado, M. (2019). Establishing of criminal offences of libel and slander and their inhibitory effect on the exercise of freedom of expression in Chile. Anuario De Derechos Humanos, 15(1), 41–63. https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-2279.2019.49201