Six Grand Ayatollahs answered questions about attributing lies to individuals in cyberspace/social media.
Question: Considering that in the cyberspace anyone can open an account in the name of others and start publishing, sometimes some people do so and publish lies and rumours in the of famous people. What is your opinion about these cases? Is distributing lies and rumours in cyberspace different to non-cyberspace? Is the person who does so is liable?
The Grand Ayatollah Sistani: Attributing lies and rumours to others is not allowed and there is no difference between cyberspace and others.
The Grand Ayatollah Shobairi Zanjani: These acts are Haram and in some cases cause liability.
The Grand Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani: Attributing lies to others is Haram and it is not allowed to publish it either and in some cases it is punishable.
The Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi: This act is kind of accusing others and we know that accusation of others is not allowed in any religion and school of thought.
The Grand Ayatollah Sobhani: Attributing lies and accusing others and insulting others are Haram and there are no differences between various kinds of tools therefore lies and accusations in cyberspace are also Haram.
The Grand Ayatollah Saneie: Any kind of fabricating rumours and attributing lies to others and publishing lies in any way are Haram and not allowed, especially when these types of acts can cause the moral security and the security of the society to be eliminated and cause insult and loss to dignity of individuals and the society which may not be possible to compensate for and all the responsibilities lie with those who distribute these lies.
source : shafaqna
