UAE: Court acquits woman found violating social media rules

Abu Dhabi - Appeals court rap the authorities for lack of implementation of information technology rules.

by

Ismail Sebugwaawo

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Published: Thu 22 Apr 2021, 11:28 AM

Last updated: Thu 22 Apr 2021, 11:38 AM

A young woman, who was convicted for persistent use of her Twitter account, despite a lower court order to suspend it because of violation of online rules, has been acquitted on appeal.

The Abu Dhabi Court of Appeals cancelled an earlier ruling by the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance, which had fined the accused, who is of Arab origin, Dh5,000 and seized her mobile phones for non-compliance with the lower court's order to suspend her Twitter account.


Court documents revealed that the woman was convicted for violation of online rules and ordered the suspension of her Twitter account.

However, she flouted the court order and continued to use her Twitter account.


The court slapped another case because of her intransigence. She was found guilty of the charge and convicted for the crime.

Later, she moved the appeals court, challenging the lower court verdict.

Her lawyer argued that since the authorities did not suspend the account, her client should not be penalised for the oversight.

He urged the court to acquit her because she was innocent.

The appeals court heard both the parties and overturned the lower court’s ruling and acquitted the woman.

The judge said the onus was on the authorities to implement the information technology rules.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

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