Social media as the place of the crime in Romania

• In Event: Cybercrime, Social Networks & Policing

Abstract

In the previous years, the social media became a place where many crimes are committed in Romania, starting from fraud and mostly crimes committed through speech. The latter have begun to be prosecuted with a higher frequency in the previous year. In this paper, we present the main conducts which were publicly presented in Romania and we analyse this from both material and procedural criminal law. For example, how can it be determined that a crime was committed on a social media platform in Romania, if the author is abroad at the moment of the activity and whether the general rules can be applied in the cyberspace. Moreover, we are trying to see what solutions can there be for prevention, detention and deterrence of such conducts. One of the possible ways to address this issue is to use the social media platforms as gatekeepers. This however might be argued that creates a private actor (even though with a small role) in the criminal trial, which might lead to a violation to the principle of legality in the Romanian legal system.

Author

• Dorel Herinean, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest