The article deals with some issues of criminalization and penalization of public dissemination of deliberately unreliable information. It is noted that the criminalization of these acts fully meets the realities of modern society. The article analyzes the features of the elements of crimes introduced by the new criminal law norms. Some shortcomings of legislative novels are noted. Based on the results of the study, the authors conclude that it is possible to combine two new structures, introduce administrative prejudice and qualifying features of the crime, such as the content of information, the method of its transmission, the presence of a special subject, and the dissemination of false information by an organized group of persons.