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Criminal v. Civil Action

I was surprised to read that there are two types of punishments for those who commit defamation. Civil action is when a person gets sued for committing defamation. Criminal action is pretty self explanatory in that anyone who commits defamation will be either fined, put in jail, or both according to our textbook. Nowadays, criminal action isn't around as much anymore as it used to be, we see more of civil action being the punishment for defamation where the victim sues the other person, or the publication that is trying to tarnish their reputation. Although there are still 12 states that practice Criminal action, it isn't common, or as severe like it is in other countries like Brazil for example.

In Brazil, any type of defamation or libel is given up to 2 years in prison along with a heavy and expensive fine. In one case a US Freelance journalist was writing a piece on a plane crash that occurred in Brazil in which he was a passenger on, a private citizen of Brazil saw this as him disrespecting Brazil's honor and wanted $279,850 in damages. These types of actions are taken for defamation in Brazil, yet they have seen the same crime continue to grow, especially on the internet.
If the punishment for defamation leaned towards criminal action in the US would the rate of it being committed increase or decrease? We use of the internet so much and there's not real persons monitoring it so how would anyone get caught?

Sources: 
 
Tedford, Thomas L., and Dale A. Herbeck, Freedom of Speech in the United States, 8th ed., Strata Publishing, Inc, 2017.

Kelly/ Warner Law PLLC, Slander and Libel Laws in Brazil, http://kellywarnerlaw.com/brazil-defamation-laws/. 

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