Defamation and leaked private footage in Georgia

In Georgia defamation is not a crime. It is a civil dispute: you sue within 100 days and ask for publication of the judgment and compensation. Unlawfully obtaining and spreading private-life information or footage, however, is a crime if it caused significant harm (Criminal Code, Article 157). Violating a secret of private life is punished even without harm — by up to 10 years in prison (Article 157¹).

In short

What defamation means under the law

Defamation is a statement that contains a substantially false fact and damages a person's reputation (Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression, Article 1). A statement is information that was made public or shared with even one other person. The Criminal Code has no article on defamation.

The key question is fact or opinion. A fact can be proved or disproved — “he stole money”. An opinion is an assessment — “she is a bad doctor”. Opinion is fully protected and no one is liable for it (Article 4). If in doubt, the court treats a statement as opinion (Article 7).

A defamation lawsuit: deadline and proof

• File within 100 days of the day you learned, or could have learned, of the statement (Article 19). Missing this short deadline is a common mistake
• You must give the court the statement, say which fact is false, and explain why it damages your reputation (Articles 13 and 14)
• The author is liable unless they prove that the statement does not contain a false fact
• If the claimant is a public figure, such as a politician or official, the author is not liable if they prove they reasonably checked the information beforehand and did not know it was false (Article 14)
• The court tries to settle the dispute and may set up to 10 days for that (Article 6)

What the court can order

• Publication of a notice about the court's judgment, in a form set by the court (Article 17)
• If that is not enough — compensation for financial and/or moral damage
• If the information was spread through the media, the correction must be published in the same media (Civil Code, Article 18)
• Forcing an apology is not allowed — the court cannot order one (Article 17)

Private-life footage — when it is a crime

Unlawfully obtaining, keeping, using or spreading information about someone's private life or their personal data is a crime if it caused significant harm (Article 157). Unlawfully obtaining, keeping, using or spreading a secret of someone's private life is a more serious crime and is punished even without harm (Article 157¹).

• Article 157¹ — obtaining, keeping, using or spreading: 4 to 7 years in prison
• The same via the internet, social media or broadcasting: 5 to 8 years
• For gain or repeatedly: 6 to 9 years
• By a person obliged to protect the secret, or by abusing one's position: 7 to 10 years
• Article 157 is lighter: a fine or up to 3 years, up to 4 years online, up to 5 years for gain or repeatedly, 4 to 7 years by abusing one's position

Secretly recording a private conversation or spreading the recording is a separate crime (Article 158). If your photo or video was published without consent, even without a crime you can ask a court to stop it and, if the author is at fault, to award compensation, including for moral damage (Civil Code, Articles 18 and 413). No consent is needed, for example, for footage taken in public or linked to someone's office.

What to do if it is being spread about you

1. Keep the evidence: dated screenshots, the link to the post, the author's page and the comments. Don't delete the messages
2. If private footage or information is being spread, go to the police or the prosecutor's office — an investigation can identify the author
3. Report the post to the social network, but save the evidence first — once deleted, it is hard to recover
4. For defamation, sue within 100 days. You can also ask for an interim measure, such as banning the defendant from certain actions (Civil Procedure Code, Articles 191 and 198)
5. If a company, website or employer spread your data, complain to the State Audit Office (Law on Personal Data Protection, Article 22). The law does not cover a person's own posts made for personal purposes (Article 2)

If you are the one accused

• Opinion and assessment are not defamation — the first question is whether you stated a fact or an opinion
• You are not liable if you did not and could not know the information was false (Article 16). Statements made in court or during an investigation are also protected (Article 5)
• A lawsuit cannot be about a statement concerning an undefined group of people or one where the claimant is not clearly identified (Article 6)
• If a lawsuit is clearly groundless and meant to silence you, you can claim reasonable compensation from the claimant (Article 18)
• If charged under Article 157 or 157¹, what matters is consent, the type of information, significant harm (under Article 157) and who really spread it. Someone who handed the information to investigators to report another crime is not liable for obtaining and keeping it (notes to these articles)

How we help

• We check whether it is defamation, an opinion or a crime, and which route is better
• We help you secure the evidence and file a report with the police or the prosecutor's office
• We prepare the lawsuit within the 100-day deadline and claim a correction and compensation
• We defend you in court and during an investigation if you are accused of defamation or of spreading private information

Compensation for moral damage