Top OFW Safety Tips

Responsible use of Social Media

The success of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites has ed to exciting ways for people to interact and communicate with each other. According to Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), Twitter has around 360,000 users in the UAE who share around 2.5 million tweets per day.

Just recently, a number of Twitter and Facebook accounts have been closed down by authorities following complaints of abuse. The TRA has launched a series of Social Media White Papers designed specifically to highlight the terms and conditions of the major social networks in use in the UAE such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Yahoo/Flickr, LinkedIn, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Store and Blackberry. Given the pervasive nature of social media, the online community should educate themselves in order to ensure that they comply with existing laws and regulations.

Facebook Rules

Facebook has around one billion users worldwide. In UAE, the gender breakdown of Facebook users is 69% male and 31% female.

The laws of UAE prohibit the publication of content which is contrary to public morals, the principles of Islam and the social and moral welfare of the UAE or any content that is offended for a nation or its government.

According to TRA, Facebook users should be aware of the following:

• Do not tag other users without their consent. The UAE law contains broad provisions relating to the protection of privacy and reputation. This is also punishable under the UAE Penal Code.
• You should not share your password or otherwise do anything that might jeopardize the security of your account.
• Facebook has broad rights to use the content which users post, and the right to use them in any way it wants.

Twitter Rules

Before making any tweets and hashtags in the microblogging social site, take note of the following rules from TRA:

• Do not publish content that is contrary to public morals, the principles of Islam and the social and moral welfare of the UAE or any content that contains irreverence towards Islam or other religions.
• Respect the UAE government, its leadership, political institutions and ultimately the UAE’s heritage, social norms and customs.
• You must not publish direct, specific threats of violence against others. This also includes hate speeches (also punishable under the UAE Penal Code by detention for a period not exceeding 6 months or by a fine not exceeding AED5,000), and content that is threatening or contains graphic or gratuitous violence.
• You should think carefully about the content you are posting. You are responsible for the content you post. You should bear this in mind if you are posting content which you do not own or which contains material that is subject to someone else’s rights.
• You must not publish other people’s private information without their consent.

Source:
GULF LAW
Essential OFW Guide to UAE
Author: Atty. Barney Almazar
http://www.gulflaw.info/index.php