Publishing mishap pics online sparks public outrage

Manama : The Bahraini public has reacted with fury after footages of an accident and the victims were posted unethically on social media networks.  

The shocking incident followed a deadly accident that occurred in the Al Areen area Saturday morning, resulting in the death of a Bahraini man and injuring eight others.

Just a few moments after the mishap, a bystander captured and published a gory video of the incident on his cellphone, showing the victims lying in pools of blood. 

Some of the victims were seen stuck under the mangled metal sheets, while a couple of them were seen bleeding motionlessly on the bloody asphalt, pleading for help.

The footage drew flak from the public, with many condemning the “merciless” act, especially in the light of death of one of the victims. Some even called for arrest and prosecution of the person behind the camera.

DT News reported earlier this year that a parliamentary committee had passed a proposal to amend the existing Penal Code and include a new article that criminalises filming and publishing accident photos without official authorisation. The proposal was submitted by MP Mohammed Al Maarifi in April, 2015. 

“We’re witnessing a social, legal and moral phenomenon here,” he told DT News back then, urging to stop crowding at accidents sites. 

Al Maarifi underlined several points why such legislation is needed. These include the moral negative sides of publicising people’s footage without their permission, hindering traffic and emergency authorities’ work, and shocking the relatives of accidents’ victims by informing them about such mishaps in wrong methods (social media networks).