Roque served as the presidential spokesperson of former President Rodrigo Duterte from 2017 to 2018, and from 2020 to 2021
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[Editor's note: This article was first published in August. It is being shared to inform readers about UAE laws.]
UAE authorities have warned residents against spreading fake news or sharing rumours on social media is a serious offence that carries a hefty penalty and imprisonment.
This comes following certain social media posts about a student who allegedly died of heart attack, triggered by academic failure or ‘repeating a school year’.
The Emirates Schools Establishment (ESE) issued a statement that it was “fabricated by social media users and has no factual basis". Moreover, contrary to the claims, the name of the student included in the posts could not be found in the records of any ESE affiliated school.
Spreading fake news and rumours is a serious offence and ESE urged the public to verify news from official sources before sharing on social media platforms.
According to the UAE Public Prosecution, the act of spreading false information and rumours is subject to a penalty of imprisonment for at least one year, along with a fine of not less than Dh100,000.
The penalty increases to two years in prison and a minimum Dh200,000 fine if the crime was committed during pandemics, emergencies and crises.
Web users should not:
What we must know
In October last year, as reported by Khaleej Times, a schoolteacher in Abu Dhabi lost his job after students and parents complained about his inappropriate behaviour on social media.
The teacher, who filed a compensation claim against the school for Dh501,000, lost his case at the Abu Dhabi Family and Civil Administrative Claims Court and then the appeal court.
In another previous incident, the Ras Al Khaimah Civil Court ordered an Arab man to pay Dh5,000 to a plaintiff as compensation for the moral damage caused after the accused cursed him on WhatsApp. The complainant said the defendant used abusive language to insult him and his wife in a WhatsApp voice message.
It is very clear that the UAE takes stringent action against social media misconduct. Here is the full list of penalties and fines for committing social media violations:
UAE social media guidelines
In a previous legal advice by KT columnist Ashish Mehta, he said, “In general, the UAE provides great opportunities for using social media platforms. However, pursuant to the UAE Cybercrime Law, an individual needs to be responsible while using the platforms.”
Here are some fundamental social media guidelines to consider in the country:
Other cyber offences include:
Grievance request
The law permits offenders to file a grievance to the relevant authority within three days of their knowledge of the verdict. The relevant authority must process the case within one week.
In case the grievance request was rejected, the offender has the right to appeal in the federal court in Abu Dhabi within a week of receiving the rejection, and the court has one week to rule to issue an order regarding the appeal.
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