UAE Regulator Announces Guidelines For Twitter

Twitter users in the UAE have been cautioned to adhere to the law when they post content on the social networking site.

A new white paper released by the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has detailed the dos and don’ts for the 360,000 Twitter users in the country, who share around 2.5 million tweets per day.

The laws of the UAE prohibit the publication of content that is contrary to public morals, the principles of Islam and the social and moral welfare of the country, TRA stated.

Twitter users must also respect the UAE government, its leadership, political institutions and the country’s cultural heritage, social norms and customs.

“Users must not publish direct, specific threats of violence against mothers. This also includes hate speeches, and content that is threatening or contains graphic or gratuitous violence or any content that is offensive for a nation or its government,” the paper said.

The TRA also warned that people are responsible for the content they post, even if it is something that they do not own or which contains material that is subject to someone else’s rights.

Also, users must not publish other people’s private information without their consent.

The white paper from the TRA also provides details about other social networks including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Yahoo/Flickr, LinkedIn and Gmail, among others.

The UAE, similar to other Gulf states, regularly monitors content on social networks. An American, Shezanne Cassim, was released from jail in January this year after a nine-month imprisonment for posting a parody video on YouTube.

Last year, an Abu Dhabi court imprisoned a man for two years for tweeting about a political trial.