An Australian woman has been arrested and incarcerated after posting “bad words” onto her Facebook account in the United Arab Emirates.
It started in February, when Jodi Magi, (pictured above,) a graphic artist living over there since 2012, posted a photo of a car onto her Facebook account, shaming the driver since the vehicle was parked across two disabled parking spaces.
Despite not containing any personal details, a police report was made that led to Magi being sued for around $3600 Australian Dollars, as well as the threat of deportation. And after turning up to pay the fine yesterday, Magi was arrested.
Laws in the UAE are substantially stricter surrounding the use of social media than they are in most other countries like Australia, the United States or the UK. In fact it is illegal to write negatively about anyone via the social media site – a law that has received plenty of criticism recently from human right groups.
Only a few months ago in March 2015 we wrote about the plight of US citizen living in the UAE Ryan Pate who could have potentially faced up to 5 years behind bars for berating his employer through his Facebook account which is also illegal in the UAE. However the charges were later dropped.
At the time of writing Magi does not know how long she will spend behind bars or whether she will be returned to Australia, and has claimed that her embassy has provided some limited assistance.
It’s another reminder that when using social media we have to be aware of the “laws of the land” – that is, the laws of the land where we are currently situated. Break the incredibly harsh laws of the UAE in terms of their social media legislation and you can find yourself in some hot water.