5-year jail, SR3m fine for social media material that disrupt public order

Saudi Arabia will punish with up to five years in prison and SR3 million fine for producing or sending or forwarding anything that ridicules, mocks or provokes to disrupt public order through social networking sites or any other means of technology, the Public Prosecutor said Tuesday.

“Producing and distributing content that ridicules, mocks, provokes and disrupts public order, religious values and public morals through social media ... will be considered a cybercrime punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of SR3 million,” the Public Prosecution tweeted late Monday.

In September 2017, authorities issued a public call for citizens to report on social media activities of their fellow citizens, under a broad definition of “terrorist” crimes.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor on Tuesday also announced it was seeking the death penalty in the case against a Muslim Brotherhood supporter.