Kuwait plans to punish Bluetooth technology abuse

Despite the advantages of Bluetooth technology in communication services lawmakers are gearing up to punish its abuse as a rise in extortion and blackmail offences is threatening to split Kuwaiti society.

Member of Parliament Mohammad Al Khalifa has proposed the inclusion of a new article to a 1976 law on the misuse of telephones to set jail terms ranging from six months to three years for Bluetooth abusers.

"The misuse of Bluetooth has been increasing, it has greatly harmed the honour and dignity of families and needs to be strongly deterred," Al Khalifa told the press yesterday.

"All those who invade the privacy of other people and harm their honour or dignity with the aim to defame, blackmail or to encourage vice should be punished with jail terms that cannot be suspended and the equipment used confiscated," he added.

Kuwaiti society has been abuzz since August when the press reported the abuse of the technology by young men who used their mobile telephone cameras to photograph women at malls, weddings and receptions and then circulate them among their friends. Many young men also recorded their clandestine dates with their girlfriends and then made the recordings public to the chagrin of many conservative families.

The Ministry of Justice then announced that it will present a draft law to incriminate the use of communication devices by ratifying a number of articles regarding its misuse. The bill will come up for discussion when parliament reconvenes in the second half of October.

The draft law states that any person who misuses mobiles could be subjected to two years in prison or a fine of 1,000 dinars. If the person is caught using a mobile phone to take pictures with the intention of distributing them without the knowledge of the subject would be sentenced to three years in jail or a fine of 3,000 dinars.

Also included in the draft law are a five-year sentence and a fine of 5,000 dinars if the pictures are used for blackmail or extortion.

The draft law then set off a debate in the country on whether new technology which could immensely benefit the country should be banned because of the stupidity of a few misguided youth. Some lawmakers even proposed blocking the import of mobile phones which include cameras or video technology, although how that could be made possible in a country with thousands of the latest mobile phones being brought in on a regular basis by young Kuwaitis who travel was not discussed.

Moderate Islamists have however said that Bluetooth technology is a knife that cuts both ways and that Islamic laws have not been set to prevent people from benefiting from new technology.

Draft law to be discussed next month

The writer is a Kuwait-based journalist