Some social media users disregarding privacy of public figures, report says

AMMAN — An online portal dedicated to monitoring the credibility of media, Akeed, published a report on Friday on social media reactions to the latest Cabinet reshuffle, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

According to the report, some social media users breached the privacy of public figures, spread inaccurate information and launched ad hominem attacks.

Some users, justifying their actions as an expression of their right to criticise and hold officials to account, posted photos of Education Minister Omar Razzaz with his family, copied from his personal Facebook profile, and wrote abusive comments, Akeed said.

Attacks against the minister included criticising his support for recent changes to school curricula. 

Users made connections between his role in education to his appearance with his family in a photo, while some shared a fake post full of misspellings claimed to be his, according to Akeed.

There is confusion among social media users over the difference between the right to criticise public officials and breaching their privacy, the report said.

Mohammad Taqatqa, an expert on cybercrime and intellectual property rights, was quoted in the report as saying that social media users should have requested Razzaz’s permission before sharing his photos, even though the minister had made the photos public.

Sharing the pictures without permission, he continued, constitutes a violation of intellectual property rights.

The report also quoted lawyer Ziad Maraqa as saying that the Cybercrime Law stipulates no less than three-month jail time and a fine between JD100 and JD2,000 for those who write or share posts online that contain libel.

The Amman Court of First Instance, according to Akeed, had ruled that permitted criticism in media outlets should be in response to a well established fact that is known to the public.

The criticism should be based on this fact and be restricted to addressing it, and the issue must be important for society.

Moreover, the person criticising the issue must use phrases and expressions that are “suitable” and within the proper context of the issue in question; he or she must also have good intentions for the criticism, the report said.