Quantcast
Channel: Expat » cyclone in Dubai
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

How a Twitter rant could land you in jail

0
0

On the evening of Saturday 11 February you’d have been forgiven for thinking that the Burj Khalifa – Dubai’s iconic centrepiece – was burning down. Twitter was literally alight with the news that smoke had been seen billowing from the top; that an evacuation was underway; and that fire-fighters were trapped in the building. A fortnight later, the UAE was bracing itself for a cyclone followed by an earthquake.

None of these events actually happened, of course – they were entirely the result of false rumours that grew wings on Twitter as people re-Tweeted blindly without checking the facts or stopping to engage their brains, prompting local paper Gulf News to publish an article on the importance of verifying information before re-Tweeting it.

Twitter is, I suppose, the online version of gossip; everyone wants to be the first to know the latest news; everyone’s hungry for a little more excitement in their lives – and who loves gossip more than a tight-knit community of expats? Hiding behind an onscreen identity, people feel less accountable for their words, while the manners and natural discretion that would keep a face-to-face meeting within the bounds of decency are absent.

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia certainly believes that: In February he issued a Fatwa against Twitter, calling it “a platform for trading accusations and for promoting lies.”

But, while most people could benefit from a caution to think before they Tweet, users of social media in the UAE have now been given a serious warning that they can and will be held accountable by authorities for anything that they say via any social media platform. 

Lt General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai’s chief of police, who is himself active on Twitter, last week told the press that “Every person must be responsible for his/her actions and statements and writing in social networks should not relieve any one from responsibility.”

And never is this truer than when it comes to matters regarding the UAE and its national security. Having seen at first hand the role social media has played in the Arab Spring, the UAE – which has so far been free from uprisings – is monitoring social networks more closely than ever.

Last week, Ras A Khaimah-resident Saleh Al Dafairi was arrested in the UAE for “incitement through writing or verbally spreading ideas that damage national unity or social peace,” after allegedly criticising the UAE government. Last year, five UAE nationals were taken from their homes, tried and sentenced to three years in jail for “insulting the UAE’s rulers” and “endangering national security” via blogs.

Earlier this month a man was on trial for insulting Lt General Tamim on Twitter and, more recently, two Emiratis appeared in court accused of exchanging insults on Facebook.

The media here are familiar with the boundaries within which they can report but it’s only since the emergence of social media that the lay person has had to learn to temper his output. While a pub rant is one thing, a Twitter rant can circulate the globe before your hang-over’s worn off, leaving a written trail that leads straight back to you.

Annabel Kantaria is a journalist who moved to Dubai long before most people knew where it was. She doesn’t ride a camel to work; has never seen a gold-plated golf buggy and only rarely has pink champagne for breakfast. Follow her on Twitter: @BellaKay

Return to the Expat front page


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images