Legal: it falls under the heading of insulting and defamation unless it is documented by an official report

"Negative comments" through "communication" lead their owners to court

• Posting the abuse on "social media" documenting it.

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Several cases registered by state courts, finally, after people posted tweets or comments on social media, expressing their dissatisfaction with an experience, whether it was buying a specific product, trying the taste of a meal in a restaurant or hotel, or criticizing a service body.

According to legal experts, the mistake is in publishing the limits of conservative, acceptable expression, to offense, slander, insult and slander using inappropriate words, such as describing food as "garbage", insulting work crews in the place, or accusing service providers of being thieves, and so on. Slang words that are frequently posted on social media without realizing their consequences.

The legal experts confirm to "Emirates Today" that there are two types of publication, one of which is considered defamation, and the other does not hold its owner legal liability, pointing out that the validity of the incident or the unfavorable experience of the publication does not give him the right to offend the party he is writing about.

They explained that he has the right to follow legal methods, and to resort to the supervisory authorities responsible for the place he is targeting by the leaflet or the picture, whether it is the police, consumer protection departments or the municipality, to protect himself from legal consequences, as for publishing an image such as an insect in a restaurant or hotel, instead of Addressing the concerned authorities, as it does not fall within his rights.

The courts recorded several cases whose owners were referred to the criminal courts, and they cut a cumbersome judicial road due to behaviors they thought were just passing emotions.

An Asian person had written a post on a social media platform that included severe insults towards a department due to his repeated failure to take a driving test.

In another case, a social influencer filmed a video clip of a defective producer (spelled macaroni), to find himself facing court on charges of assaulting privacy and defamation of a famous store, before a court decision was issued exempting him from liability.

This case shows what may or may not be permissible, if it passes through the three stages of litigation, and a court of first instance ruled that the accused was acquitted of the charge of assaulting privacy and defamation, based on an important presumption, which is sending the video clip to the municipality and registering a complaint, and taking action by the municipality regarding The branch that witnessed the violation has cemented the court’s conviction that the defendant’s criminal intent was lacking because he later published the video.

However, the appeals court ruled guilty and fined the accused, based on its reassurance of his assault on the privacy of the store.

The lawsuit moved to the last stage of litigation, which is the Federal Supreme Court, which rejected the judgment of the Court of Appeal and confirmed the innocence of the accused, considering in its merits that addressing the official authorities first to take action against the store would remove his disposal from the circle of violating privacy.

Lawyer Ali Khalaf al-Hosani confirms that the party affected by the publication, whether it is a restaurant or a store, or whatever its jurisdiction, has the right to take legal action against the owner of the publication or photos, unless the publication is accompanied by a legal procedure from the concerned party, because this behavior falls under In the context of insults and slander

He says that there are clear paths that a person must adhere to, before publishing a photo or comment that affects some party, the first of which is resorting to an official body such as the municipality, and he has a decision or judgment against the facility that he aims to publish, such as closing or editing a violation.

Al Hosani confirms that publishing in "social media" is criminal even if its subject matter is real, and the incident actually occurred, such as spotting an insect in a restaurant or hotel, as long as its owner does not prove that, and he obtains a final and definitive verdict of the veracity of his story from the supervisory authority responsible for the place.

It indicates that there is a big difference between evaluating a person’s experience in a place, or evaluating a specific product, such as a phone he bought, and talking about it in a respectful language that expresses that his speech is limited to his personal experience only, and between transgression and insulting the place from which he bought the product or manufacturer, and talking About defects that only a specialized expert is aware of, pointing out that "these actions are repeated and we monitor them almost daily on social media platforms, but the perpetrators do not realize that they are placing themselves under the penalty of law, as a result of committing insulting and defamation crimes with what is known as public insult."

He added, "The Emirati legislator has addressed this crime in the Penal Code and Information Technology, as it stipulates that anyone who throws at another person, by any means of publicity, is punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine."

The legislator stressed the punishment for committing the crime of insulting using the Internet or other information technology means, according to the Law on Combating Information Technology Crimes, anyone who insults others is punished with imprisonment, and a fine of not less than 250,000 dirhams and not exceeding 500,000 dirhams, or one of these two penalties.

For his part, the legal advisor, Wajih Amin Abdulaziz, stressed that “the problem is that many people do not realize the difference between passing conversation in a session that includes a group of friends, and transferring the same conversation to social media platforms, because the word that is written in anger can be transmitted by hundreds Thousands or even millions of people, and as long as it has been published, it cannot be revoked, and it is considered evidence against its owner, ”pointing out that“ many parties overlook offensive posts or comments against them, this does not necessarily mean that they cannot sue the owners of these publications, so everyone must Pay attention before talking about their experiences, or publishing pictures that affect certain places on the (social media), because this places them under the penalty of insulting, defamation and defamation crimes, on any of the means of information technology.

He clarifies that the punishable slander is defined as "every statement that includes attribution of an act, is a crime for which the law decides a criminal punishment, and it is necessary to despise the ascribed to him by the people of his country or his profession."

"This is a recurring problem, and many are not aware of its consequences, as we monitor dozens of accusations of insulting and slandering on social networks every day, and insulting people are unaware that publishing it is tantamount to documenting it," said lawyer Muhammad Al-Awami Al-Mansouri.

He adds that there is a path laid down by law for every right holder, which begins with establishing the case, and if a person eats in a restaurant, for example, and feels unwell, this does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with food, as there is no evidence of causation as long as he does not resort to a competent authority to prove That is, like the police or the municipality, but writing pamphlets from the sample "They ate rubbish" and "Galli is poisoned" puts it under the penalty of law.

He emphasized that this behavior falls under the penalty of defamation crimes, as it can cause great harm to the place he offended, and the person turns from a right holder, who did not seek to prove it by legal means, to a criminal.

The crime of defamation

The crime of defamation is carried out regardless of the motive for it, as the law does not require a special intent in this crime, rather it is sufficient to have the general criminal intent that is achieved whenever the slanderer publishes or broadcasts matters that he knows include contempt or contempt for the person attributed to him, and when the intent is achieved in the crime of defamation, it is not It is permissible to delve into the issue of intent, regardless of the validity of the incident or not.

Personal experiences

The legislator tightened the penalty for insulting and defamation through the means of information technology, due to its rapid spread and its great impact on the social environment.

The circumstance becomes aggravating if the offense is to a government agency, according to Article 20 of Federal Law No. (5) of 2012 regarding information technology crimes, if insulting and defamation occurred against a public employee or charged with a public service, this is considered an aggravating circumstance.

It is possible that any of us will be exposed to an unsatisfactory situation, or to receive a service that he does not like, or he may be subjected to an unfair decision, such as registering a violation, or he may obtain an inferior good, and he believes that he has paid more than what is actually due, but these cases remain experiences Personal, and does not express a general situation.

Therefore, the person with a bad experience must abide by the law in claiming the right, and resort to the official authorities so that he does not put himself under the penalty of the law that protects it.

• An Asian who wrote a post on social media that insulted a department because of his repeated failure in a driving test.

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