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Without consent or knowledge of the other party

Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 10:16 am
by Joywtome21
Is it a crime to publish screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation or any other social network? We are talking about the famous screenshots that are the order of the day. Several rights come into play: the right to honour, privacy and one's own image and the right to freedom of expression and information.

The answer is it depends . There are no clear limits.

As we saw in the post “ Is it legal to record conversations? ” you must take into malaysian phone numbers account whether or not you are participating in the conversation , that is, whether it is your own conversation or someone else’s.

Article 18 of the Constitution regulates the right to honor, privacy and one's own image . In its third section it states: "The confidentiality of communications is guaranteed, especially postal, telegraphic and telephone communications, except by judicial resolution."


You have to be careful when sharing a screenshot of a conversation, even if you participated in it, because it could violate the right to honor of the participant(s) in the conversation. If we share something that could damage someone's honor, and they decide to file a complaint, they will resort to civil means , which is much faster and more effective, and we could be in trouble.

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If we are not part of the conversation, the situation is much more serious and we would be facing a crime . We would be facing a crime of discovery and disclosure of secrets regulated in article 197 of the Penal Code.

"If we broadcast conversations without the consent or knowledge of the other party, we may violate their right to honor and privacy."

Distributing screenshots of conversations without the knowledge or consent of the other party may constitute civilly reprehensible behavior since it would violate the person's right to honor, privacy and self-image .

Article 7.3 of Organic Law 1/1982, of May 5, on civil protection of the right to honor, personal and family privacy and one's own image indicates: The disclosure of facts relating to the private life of a person or family that affect their reputation and good name, as well as the disclosure or publication of the content of letters, memoirs or other personal writings of an intimate nature .


We are all clear that private images or recordings cannot be distributed without consent, but doubts arise when we talk about sharing screenshots of conversations held with another person without the consent or knowledge of the other party. There would be no crime, but there would be civilly reprehensible behavior since it is considered an illegitimate intrusion .

Therefore, the dissemination of a private chat, text messages or any communication without the knowledge or consent of the other party would be a civil offence. But everything depends on the content of the conversation. If the content of the chat is intimate and personal , its dissemination clearly violates the right to honour, personal and family privacy and one's own image, since its disclosure without the consent of the other person may cause serious moral damage and compensation may be requested for the damages caused.