Dubai: Bahraini authorities on Sunday announced they would be taking “severe measures” to track down dissidents who use social media. Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said the government was adopting “severe measures to deal with unprecedented chaos by disruptive social media accounts”, in a statement published by the official Bahrain News Agency.
The minister did not identify any account but said some had been flagged by the authorities for “spreading malicious rumours that strike at the heart of the social fabric and civil peace”.
“We are not far from tracking down those behind this, and taking legal action against them,” Khalifa said, adding that if necessary new legislation could be passed.
The government has accused Iranian authorities of backing the protest movement in a bid to overthrow it.
US President Donald Trump has eased restrictions on arms sales to Bahrain since taking office in January last year.
