Digital character assassination in the Jordanian law

One of the rights inherent in a legal personality is the ability to maintain the individual's dignity and treat himself with respect, regardless of his social status. The rise of cybercrime has made it possible to launch digital attacks on someone's honor or reputation, creating a need for rules that limit what can be posted on personal pages and websites. The adoption of Cybercrime Law No. 17 of 2023 shows that Jordanian lawmakers have been proactive. Through the use of a descriptive and inductive analytical approach, this research demonstrated the uniqueness of this legislation, which prohibits the distribution or attribution of any works aimed at defaming a person’s reputation. Presenting an incorrect image of the targets and isolating them socially is the deliberate moral destruction of a person, organization, institution, or social group through spreading rumours, fabricating accusations, and manipulating data and facts. This procedure is similar to the deliberate assassination of individuals. Lawmakers in Jordan have tightened penalties for the perpetrators of this crime and those who helped commit it. The study found that although the goal of character assassination and the crime of digital defamation is to harm the victim's reputation and dignity, there is a significant difference. Character assassination differs from digital defamation in that it requires a specific goal: the moral destruction and social isolation of the targeted individual. This paper aims to clarify the term character assassination, analyze the legislative text that explicitly criminalizes it, identify the elements of this crime and how it is committed, verify the criminal protection procedures decided by the Jordanian legislator, and explain the reasons that prove these crimes. This paper relied on the descriptive approach in studying the phenomenon. Character assassination and gathering information related to this field.