Cairo: Bahrain has accused platforms operating in Qatar of seeking to damage its interests and “close and special” with Saudi Arabia.
The Bahraini Interior Ministry said it had recently discovered Qatar-based fake accounts run by wanted fugitives aimed at damaging its economy by circulating false information.
“Such accounts tend to instigate disturbances and sedition and incite hatred, in an attempt to tear into Bahrain’s social fabric and jeopardise the upcoming parliamentary elections by negatively focusing on a number of issues, including the new pension scheme, to negatively swing the public opinion and distort the Bahraini identity to project it as having negative characteristics,” the ministry added in a statement, Bahraini media reported on Sunday.
“These threats constitute a purposeful assault against the citizens,” the ministry said, vowing to take legal action against the fake accounts.
“The Ministry of Interior affirms the constitutional principles that protect the citizens’ rights, especially their freedom of expression, and urges them to follow the laws relating to such rights and ensure that the information they circulate is credible by obtaining it from official sources.”
The ministry urged the public to “be cautious and avoid circulating false reports.”
In June last year, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar over its support for extremist groups.
The anti-Qatar alliance has also designated as terrorists several militant individuals and groups associated with Doha.
