It’s no secret that Mark (and I) have an online presence and therefore we are a target of online harassment. It so easy for some people to sit behind a computer and put out their issues in negative comments. Mark (and I) believe in freedom of speech, and always let people say what they want on the blog or via email, just like Mark (and I) are enjoying our freedom of speech with our posts, we want the same for our readers. Unfortunately though Mark (and I) have both received unnecessary threats from a person or two.
What can you do if you face the same situation? What can you do if someone comments on your twitter “I want to beat the **** out of you”. People think that because they are behind a computer no one can find out who they are! It is as if they didn’t know that Kuwait has a Cyber Crime department under the Ministry of Interior, that is highly capable of finding out where the person is located, what device they are using and other information. (They once found a criminal on behalf of my client in Morocco).
If you are facing any type of online harassment you need to go to the said department located in Salmiya across from the new Boulevard Mall. You will fill out a paper, and you will need to show them the comment. They will gather all the information from you and start an investigation, within 10 days if the person that commented is in Kuwait he/she will be called in for an investigation.
What charges is the person going to face? There is a few different crimes that I could write in my brief to the court but the easiest would be in reference to Article 6 of Law 63 of 2015 famously dubbed as the “Cyber Crime Law” (it has a more complicated name) and I don’t want to complicate things as the law refers to another law, but the person could easily face a KD 3,000 to KD 10,000 fine.
Of course once the criminal court passes the final judgment, Mark could file a civil case and ask for compensation as well. Good thing though the law forgives those who apologize or notify authority before any serious damage is done. Be careful with what you say guys and remember to be nice to each other. We all have difficult situations in our life and sometimes its so easy to let out our frustration on someone else. But we really need to respect each other more. If you have gone through a similar situation email me, I would love to hear from you. Stay legal guys.
Feel free to email me [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.
Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.
