Abu Dhabi: The recent termination of Atul Kochar’s contract to run a popular restaurant at a Dubai five-star hotel following a racist tweet by the celebrity chef has made social media and WhatsApp groups in the UAE sit up.
Working overtime to monitor posts that may be hostile, inappropriate, inflammatory or even defamatory, admins of various social media groups told XPRESS their task is by no means easy.
Unsparing law
According to UAE’s Cyber Crime Law Article 20, slander, use of abusive language or hurling of insults against another person or entity through a computer network is a punishable crime that could lead to imprisonment and fines up to Dh500,000.
Group admins can also be held liable for inappropriate posts.
In May, the Sharjah public prosecution registered a case against the admin of a WhatsApp group and its members for allegedly uploading and circulating pornographic videos and photos.
With members of social media groups coming from different parts of the world, there could be legal implications in other jurisdictions too.
In India for example, social media administrators are held directly responsible if no action is taken against posts deemed to spread fake news and rumours or incite communal disharmony.
Angry call
Freya Jaffar, admin of Facebook group Abu Dhabi Q&A, said she was once woken up at 3am by a phone call from an angry member who wanted another member to be removed from the group.
- FREYA JAFFAR, ABU DHABI Q&A
She said, “The two members had an online exchange over a cultural issue which turned ugly. The caller threatened to take me to court if I didn’t take action.”
The bigger the group, the more challenging is the admin’s task.
Jaffar said of the 50,000 members on the group, nearly 9,000 people are in the blocked list. “We are forced to block members when they become abusive, share illegal stuff or harass others. All of this goes against the spirit of community which the forum aims to foster,” she said.
Tough measures
Gina Dillon, who runs FreeCycle Abu Dhabi (FCAD) that has 51,000 members, said, “We become tougher as the group grows. What people don’t understand is that we are protecting them by removing their offensive posts.”
- GINA DILLON, FREECYCLE ABU DHABI (FCAD)
She recalled how an offended member once sent her a graphic picture of a murdered woman.
“It freaked me out. I had to screen the members on board and block some of them,” she said.
Jonia Mathew of Style Diva, which has 11,000 members, said she monitors every post and comment to make sure they are in line with the rules of the country.
Extra vigil
“Hardly one per cent of them are hostile, but you have to be careful. When we run competitions for instance, some people get upset and demand explanations or try to bad-mouth the winner,” she said.
-JONIA MATTHEW, STYLE DIVA
Jaffer said humour is also commonly misunderstood.
“What is funny for some is extremely offensive for others. Despite constant reminders, people flout the rules and get angry when we block them. They start targeting us and troll our personal accounts,” she said.
According to Mathew, people are under the mistaken belief that the virtual aspect of social media gives them immunity to behave and act as they please. “But what they don’t realise is that they can get themselves and others on the group into trouble.”.
