Saudi Arabia: Jail time, SR500,000 fine for filming people
Taking photos or shooting videos of others is invasion of privacy or defamation
Abu Dhabi: If you ever want to record Ramadan fights in Saudi Arabia and post them as funny pranks, just don’t.
Taking photos or shooting videos of others is an invasion of their privacy, or defamation, and can lead to a SR500,000 fine, in addition to a one-year jail term, a legal advisor warned.
Badr Bin Saeed Al Maliki warned that some people used to shoot videos of others fighting especially during Ramadan and post these clips as funny pranks, which is a defamation offence, punishable by a year in prison and a SR500,000 or either penalties.
Al Maliki also warned residents not to take photos and videos of other people without first requesting their permission, as doing so is a crime.
According to Saudi Cybercrime Law, people who breach the privacy of others or defame them by capturing videos on camera and posting the footage online can face a hefty fine of SR500,000, or one year in jail or both.