SR500,000 FINE, JAIL TIME FOR PRANKSTERS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Mon 12 September 2022:

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has announced the imposition of a fine of 500,000 Saudi Riyals (Rs 1,06,06,677) on anyone who is caught pranking, local media reported.

In this context, the words of legal expert Dr Majed Garoub explains that posting pranks on social media is a crime in Saudi Arabia, and it is classified as a violation of the country’s Anti-Cyber Crime Law.

However, Majed told Arabic television Al Saudaih, that most pranksters on social media are young and juvenile.

“Age does not exempt the offender from arrest and imprisonment with investigations conducted in line with specific procedures suiting their age,” he added.

He added that posting pranks on social media is a violation even if it is a prank that has consent.

“A crime is a crime. We now have a law that criminalizes these activities and considers them as offensive. It is also considered a crime if someone reposts, likes or retweets a prank,” Garoub said.

Giving his personal opinion, the lawyer believes that anyone who reposts, likes or retweets a violating content should be penalized with the maximum punishment. However, he said that legal punishment takes the circumstances of every violation into consideration.

Speaking about the difference from a legal perspective between the pranks that some people post on social media and what we see on television, Garoubs said that pranks on social media are different from those on TV as the latter present comedy shows.

“Legally, the two are different. The TV shows are subject to the regulations of the General Commission for Audiovisual Media while the violations posted on social media platforms are subject to the Anti-Cyber Crime Law,” he said.

In recent years, Saudi police have arrested dozens of people for misusing social media and engaging in various online crimes.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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