Criminal liability for the public dissemination of knowingly false information: historical and legal aspect

Based on the analysis of the main monuments of criminal legislation of Russia, the article examines the legal norms regulating the liability for dissemination of knowingly false information. In order to identify the patterns of evolution of the analyzed social relations, the Code of Laws of 1497 and 1550, the Cathedral Code of 1649, the Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments of 1845 (as amended in 1885), the Criminal Code of 1903, Soviet and modern criminal legislation are investigated. The article analyzes the characteristic features of the periods in which criminal legislative acts were adopted that influenced the criminalization of the analyzed acts, as well as the specifics of the presentation and formulation of the compositions of acts containing lies. The differentiation of types and sizes of sanctions in criminal legal norms of different historical periods is investigated. In connection with the development of information and communication technologies the attention is focused on the criminally punishable acts of public dissemination of knowingly false information. The research methodology consists of the method of comparative analysis, historical and legal method of scientific knowledge.In conclusion, the author concludes about the influence of cultural, political and other factors on the features of dissemination false information and its criminalization; about changes in the terminological apparatus used in the presentation of the criminal law prohibitions ofthe dissemination of knowingly false information.