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UAE launches white paper on Facebook do’s and don’ts

Move by telecommunications regulator comes months after warning of jail or fine for misuse of social networking website

By Staff writer
The Facebook Inc. website is displayed on a smartphone in this arranged photograph in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Facebook Inc. is boosting the number of shares for sale in its initial public offering to 421 million, letting it raise as much as $16 billion, two people with knowledge of the deal said. (Bloomberg)
The Facebook Inc. website is displayed on a smartphone in this arranged photograph in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Facebook Inc. is boosting the number of shares for sale in its initial public offering to 421 million, letting it raise as much as $16 billion, two people with knowledge of the deal said. (Bloomberg)

The UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has launched a white paper on Facebook usage, which comes as part of The UAE Social Media White Papers collection.

The series of awareness documents are designed specifically to highlight the terms and conditions of the most popular social networks in use in the UAE.

The move comes a few months after a UAE senior government official warned that Facebook users who upload images or videos of people to the social network without their permission face a minimum prison sentence of six months and/or a fine of up to AED500,000 ($136,132).

Lt Col Salah Al Ghoul, head of the bureau for law respect at the Ministry of Interior, reiterated that the law was clear on posting images or videos of people without their consent and it is a crime to someone’s privacy is infringed.

The latest release, which focuses on Facebook, advises on privacy risks and UAE law. In the “morality and proper conduct” section it states: “You are not allowed to operate any application which contains alcohol-related, dating or other mature content without appropriate restrictions.

There are also restrictions and guidelines on the offering of competitions, promotions and other commercial communications, like spam messages.

These restrictions are no more than users should expect under the laws of the UAE, which prohibit the publication of content which is contrary to public morals, the principles of Islam and the social and moral welfare of the UAE.”

It goes on to say that users in the UAE should be aware of “tagging other users without their consent.”

“Users should be aware of the associated risk under UAE law of claims for defamation and breach of privacy involving the use of photographs and videos of other people without consent. UAE law contains quite broad provisions relating to the protection of privacy and reputation so care needs to be taken when posting information about others.”

The social networks included in The UAE Social Media White Papers collection are: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Yahoo/Flickr, LinkedIn, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Store, Blackberry and Keek. Full versions of the white papers and the corresponding infographics will be accessible via the TRA’s official website.

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