The United Arab Emirates is toughening up on those who criticise or mock rulers or state institutions online. President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan has decreed amendments (Federal Legal Decree No. 5 for 2012) to an existing law (Federal Legal Decree No. 2 for 2006) relating to internet crime, according to state news agency WAM.
The amendments stipulate that those who create or run a website or use information technology to "deride or damage the reputation" of the state or any of its institutions could face prison sentences. According to WAM, this includes the president, vice president, any of the rulers of the seven Emirates that make up the UAE, crown princes, deputy rulers, the national flag, the national anthem and any emblem of the state."
Also punishable by imprisonment is using web technology to call for the "overthrow[ing] of the system of government" or to "oppose the basic principles which constitute the foundations of the system of government of the state. The same punishment is imposed by the decree on anyone who calls for, promotes or provokes the aforementioned acts or abets or helps others to engage in them. This includes those who use the web to call for "disobeying the laws and regulations of the state", including calling for "demonstrations, marches and similar activities" without obtaining a license in advance -- so that probably encompasses pretty much all forms of online protest.
The decree also covers a wide range of other internet activities. It criminalises activities by "any person who creates or runs any electronic site to send, transmit, publish or promote online any pornographic material, gambling activities and any other indecent acts".
It takes a very heavy-handed approach to privacy, imposing punishment on anyone using the web for "unwarranted violation of privacy of others". According to the statement on WAM, this includes not only eavesdropping, intercepting and recording conversations, but also "taking photographs of others, creating electronic photos of others" as well as "publishing news, electronic photographs, comments, data and information", even if they are authentic. In the same breath, bizarrely, it stipulates punishment for any person creating a website with the intention of "trafficking in persons or the illegal trade of human organs", and a little later also mentions people running sites for unauthorised trade in "firearms, ammunition or explosives".
It also stipulates penalties of imprisonment on any person publishing any information, news, caricatures or any other kind of pictures that would pose threats to the security of the state and to its highest interests or violate its public order.
Anyone convicted of these crimes can have their devices seized and websites shut down. They can also be placed under surveillance and prevented from using the internet. Any foreigners convicted run the risk of being deported once they've finished their sentence.
Clearly it will all come down to how the law is interpreted and enforced by the courts. The move echoes that of the Philippines, which in September announced a swathe of new restrictions including the criminalisation of cybersex.
Image: Shutterstock
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-11/13/uae-internet-law-decree
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