dissemination of information to, a particular minority from the subject to punishment, the concept of propagation possibility, which is not regulated as a constituent element, is substituted for publicity to punish even the above case. H. There is no reason to view the concept of publicity differently despite defamation through an information and communications network. The Information and Communications Network Act requires an act of alleging fact to be public even if an information and communications network is used, and thus the concept of publicity thereof is the same as that of criminal defamation. If facts were revealed only to a small number of specified persons even if an information and communications network is used, it cannot be still deemed that publicity exists, and such act is not subject to the regulation of criminal defamation under the Criminal Act or Information and Communications Network Act. In other words, alleging facts to one friend through a message by an information and communications network such as email or SNS and writing a letter or speaking face to face are the same as revealing facts to a small number of specified persons in terms of the modality of an act, and the general risk of infringement of reputation cannot be seen to be caused on the grounds that an information and communications network was used. The matter that the degree of damage and scope of defamation are widened as information is easily stored infinitely and reproduced with the advancement of the Internet and scientific technology ought to be resolved through reflection in the examination of an offense or aggravated punishment by the Information and Communications Network Act and the concept of publicity does not have to be changed on the grounds thereof. I. Emphasizing punishment for defamation by expanding the scope of publicity through the theory of propagation possibility is far from foreign legislative trends. Crimes against reputation, originated from the ancient Roman law and Germanic law, have their origin-based property of having existed to prevent criticism by the general public as a system to protect powerful individuals or the ruling class, and our society has also had such an experience several times. As seen in the current Me Too movement, criminal defamation acts as a means to restrict the free expression of sexual violence victims and cause an ironic situation in which the victim is criminally punished.