Culprits of online personal info scams may be fined up to BD20,000

Manama : The fine for exposing personal information of individuals against their will using the Internet may be increased to BD20,000, which is 400 times the existing BD50 fine.

This comes as the Council of Representatives votes this Tuesday on a bill submitted by the second branch of the Legislative Authority in the Kingdom, Shura Council, to amend the country’s Penal Code.

The proposed amendment increases the existing punishment for publishing photographs or comments relating to individuals private or family lives from serving an imprisonment sentence not exceeding six months and/or paying a fine not exceeding BD50.

Submitted to the council’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee on March 14 this year for approval, the bill stipulates replacing the punishments mentioned in Articles 354 and 370 of the Kingdom’s Penal Code with tougher penalties.

Article 370 stipulates that “a prison sentence for a period not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding BD50, or either penalty, shall be inflicted upon any person who publishes by any method of publication news, photographs or comments relating to individuals’ private or family lives, even though they are true, should the publication thereof be offensive thereto”.

As for Article 354, it reads that “a punishment of imprisonment for no more than three months or a fine of no more than BD20 shall be inflicted upon any person who is found in a public road or in a place frequented by the public inciting pedestrians, by words or signs, to indulge in vice”.

If implemented, the proposed law would punish those proved to commit the crimes mentioned in both articles by imprisonment not exceeding three years and paying a fine not less than BD10, 000 and not exceeding BD20, 000.

Committee Head MP Abdulla Binhowail earlier explained that such acts would be considered an aggravated circumstance and the maximum punishment would be inflicted if they were committed using any mean of social media networks.

“The amendment aims at ensuring mutual respect between members of the society, curbing the recently spreading insults and verbal abuse phenomenon on social media networks, ensuring freedom of expression within the framework of the law and without insulting others and introducing deterrent punishments for such offences,” Binhowail affirmed.

The committee discussed the bill with representatives of the related authorities by holding three meetings on March 16, April 16 and April 23 this year. The meetings were attended by representatives of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry, Interior Ministry and the National Institution for Human Rights.

Committee members approved the proposed amendment and issued a report that will be reviewed and voted on by the 40-member council during its ordinary weekly meeting scheduled this Tuesday.

Abusive and defamatory posts on local social networks have recently become a phenomenon, with some accounts dedicated to sharing scandals and exposing personal information of citizens and residents.

This received a stern response from several authorities in the Kingdom. “This requires a decisive stand against suspicious calls to undermine the strong and deep-rooted relationship between the Leadership and the Bahraini people,” Royal Guard Commander Staff Brigadier HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa warned in a statement on March 31. Interior Minister Lieutenant General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa also affirmed that “tough steps will be taken to deal with unprecedented chaos created by disruptive social media accounts”. At least ten individuals were arrested and prosecuted this year in Bahrain in relation to similar offences.