- Overview
Internet and social media websites are of great interest to Kuwaitis, as Kuwaitis are among the highest worldwide users of social media websites, but on the other hand, the Kuwaiti government is relentlessly pursuing social media activists. The Kuwaiti government is considered one of the most oppressing Arab governments for tweeps, after publishing their opinions. Recently, the issue of fake social media accounts has been raised on the surface, which uncovered many corruption cases. The issue reached the National Assembly after Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, demanded that legislation be passed to regulate the telecommunication platforms that were full of those accounts.
- Developments in the ICT sector
Kuwait’s population in 2019 reached about 4.2 million people, including about 1.2 million Kuwaitis, in addition to 3 million foreigners. The country achieved a huge spread of means of communication, as the number of mobile phone users reached about 7.1 million, with a prevalence of approximately 169%. The General Authority for Telecommunications and Information Technology (TRA) is responsible for supervising and monitoring the telecommunications sector. Unlike the landline services provided by the Ministry of Telecommunications, three companies operate the mobile phone lines, Zain, formerly known as Mobile Telecommunications Company – MTC. Ooredoo, formerly the National Telecommunications Company (NITC), and Kuwait Telecommunications Company (KTC), all of which are from the private sector, are under the control of the General Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).[1]
The acquisition of Internet companies is the concern of local telecommunications companies. VIVA acquired quality Net, and Ooredoo acquired it by Fast Telco.[2]
- The legal environment of the ICT sector
The Kuwaiti National Assembly passed no law on Internet freedom from March 2017 to September 2019, but the flawed laws remained in force, including Act No. 63 of 2015, known as the Information Technology Crime Prevention Act, together with Act No. 8 of 2016 on electronic media. Such laws oblige those who seek to establish or operate electronic information websites and means were required to obtain authorization from the Ministry of Information.
- Social Networks
Internet users in Kuwait reach about 4.1 million, with a growth rate of about 98%, which is one of the highest in the world. Kuwait is one of the top countries in social media users. Facebook comes on top of the most popular websites in the country, where the number of Facebook users reaches about 3 million, Instagram users come in the second place, in terms of the number of users in Kuwait, where the number of users reaches about 1.8 million. While the violent pursuit of tweeps has reduced Twitter users to about 1.7 million users, driving Kuwait’s tweeps to launch a Twitter campaign called #TwitterisnotaCrime, which is popular to limit encroachment on the right of tweeps to express their opinion and criticism.
- Blocking and censorship
The government is used to blocking websites without a judiciary ruling, calling it “electronic content blocking service”. Telecommunications and Information Technology Authority has devoted a page on its website to receive requests to block any electronic content that “contradicts public interest, including public morality, the teachings of Islam, public order, national security, or otherwise prohibited under the laws of the State of Kuwait,” the page said. A 2018 report by the General Authority for Telecommunications and Information Technology (TRA) said that 88% of website blocking requests came from the government, private parties. While individual reports reached 12%. The main reason for blocking is “violating public morals” by 43%, followed by violating intellectual property by 27%, offending the Islamic religion and the principles of society by 21%, then the online gambling websites by 9%.[3]
- Prosecution and security threats
Al-Mulla acquitted of charges of offending Kuwait’s Emir and offending Egypt
On March 13, 2017, the Court of Cassation (Kuwait’s highest judicial level) rejected the appeal filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against former MP Saleh Al-Mulla, and upheld the decision of the Court of the first instance and the Court of Appeal acquitting him of the charges of insulting the Emir of Kuwait and offending Egypt on the grounds of public tweets in January 2015., before Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit to Kuwait, he said, “Sisi is not welcome, only people of Kuwait have the right to enjoy its billions.”
New verdicts against former MP Abdul Hamid Dashti
Several Kuwaiti courts sentenced former MP Abdel Hamid Dashti, currently living outside Kuwait, for Twitter posts, to three years in absentia, where the Criminal Court on March 26, 2017, sentenced Dashti to three years in prison for tweeting. On the background of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz’s visit to Kuwait, and on January 31, 2018, the Kuwaiti Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of imprisonment of Dashti, a year in effect and enforcement, on charges of insulting the judiciary, and the most recent verdicts issued on April 9, 2019. The Criminal Court sentenced Dashti to three years in prison in effect and enforcement for the offense of insulting Saudi Arabia through the social media network “Twitter”.
Rania Al-Saad and Saleh Al-Said imprisoned for allegedly “offending Saudi Arabia”
On March 27, 2017, the Court of Appeal sentenced the two tweeps, Rania Al-Saad, and Saleh Al-Said, to three years in prison for allegedly offending Saudi Arabia’s King via Twitter, and annulled the first instance ruling that Rania Al-Saad and Saleh Al-said were acquitted of insulting Saudi Arabia on the social media website. That came after a complaint filed by the Saudi embassy on 27 August 2014.
Cassation court upholds the imprisonment of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah
Kuwait’s Court of Cassation, on July 16, 2017, sentenced Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah to three years in prison in effect and enforcement for insulting the prince and some personalities, for publishing footage of him via the social media website Snapchat. The authority considered it offensive to the prince and some members of the royal family. Sheikh Abdullah continued to be in prison until his release on 14 November 2017, after receiving a special pardon in addition to the abdication of Sheikh Mohammed al-Abdullah.
Lawyer Hani Hussein imprisoned for 5 years on the pretext of spreading false news
On October 8, 2017, the Criminal Court sentenced Hani Hussein to five years in prison for his report from the Ministry of Health accusing him of spreading false news, after tweeting about the presence of a “rigging Bengali doctor working in the Ministry of Health. He informed Interior Ministry officials of Bengali’s identity and informed them of his original passports and forged Kuwaiti documents.”
The final sentence of imprisonment against 5 members of the al-Fentas group
Kuwait’s Court of Cassation on Monday, May 15, 2017, ended the case of “al-Fentas Group”, in which three defendants from the royal family: The brothers of the emir’s brother, Adhby Fahad Al Ahmad, nephew of the prince, Al-Daoud Al-Sabah, and Khalifa Al-Ali Al-Sabah. The case was handed over to the Criminal enforcement Prosecution, which asked the Interpol administration to seize the fugitive members of the group outside the country, to hand them over to Kuwait. The court decided once more to uphold the prison sentence against Adhby Fahd Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Ahmad Al-Daoud Al Sabah, Khalifa Al-Ali Al-Sabah, lawyer Abdul Mohsen Al-Otaiqi and lawyer Falah Al-Hajerif, for five years each on charges of “spreading false news that will damage the country and its security,””offending, defaming, and challenging judges and accusing them of bribery,” as well as “phone abuse” for opinions published by activists on a group known as “al-Fentas Group.” The court also upheld the innocence of Fawaz Al-Sabah and Yusef Al-Issa. Mohammed al-Jasim, Mashari Buyaes, Ahmad Siar, and Jarrah al-Zoufiri and decided that Sa’ud al-Asfour’s appeal, who was arrested on 13 March 2017, could not be considered, which means supporting the sentence of one-year imprisonment in the same case. The sentence in absentia of 10 years’ imprisonment, therefore, remains in force until his return and his appearance before the courts.
The pursuit of Abdullah Saleh for his tweets
The Kuwaiti authorities pursued the Kuwaiti tweep Abdullah Mohammad Al-Saleh, who is currently living in Britain, with many cases for tweets published on his Twitter account, where the Kuwaiti Criminal Court sentenced Abdullah to prison on December 25, 2017, for five years, he worked and was charged with “offending Saudi Arabia” for tweets and videos, published via his Twitter account, to criticize Saudi Arabia for boycotting Qatar. On February 4, 2018, the Criminal Court sentenced Abdullah to five years in prison with labor and enforcement for insulting the UAE, and on April 28, 2019, the Criminal Court sentenced Abdullah to five years in prison with the job and for “spreading false news”.
In absentia sentences of imprisonment for tweep Saqr al Hashash for
periods exceeding 80 years
The Kuwaiti courts issued several sentences in absentia for the imprisonment of tweep Saqr Al-Hashash, who is outside Kuwait, for sentences which exceed 80 years, based on tweets published on his account. For example, on July 26, 2018, the Criminal Court sentenced Hashash to 10 years in absentia for “insulting the prince”, and on January 15, 2019, the Criminal Court sentenced him to five years in absentia for “writing abusive statements to the majesty of the prince on Twitter, and on February 17, 2019, the Criminal Court sentenced him to three years in prison in absentia and confiscated the phone used in the case of insulting the prince.
Hamed Turki Boiaes imprisoned and his phone confiscated
On January 8, 2018, the Kuwaiti Criminal Court sentenced former newspaper Al-Shaab editor Hamid Turki Boiaes to two years in prison with a three-year suspended sentence for good conduct and the confiscation of his phone for alleged “insulting the princess”, for writing several tweets in his Twitter account.
Nasser Al-Duwaila detained for allegedly offending Saudi Arabia
The Kuwaiti security services arrested the Kuwaiti politician and former member of the National Assembly, arrested Nasser Al-Duwaila on 28 June 2019 for allegedly offending Saudi Arabia, for tweeting on his account, then the Kuwaiti prosecution released him on bail two days after his detention.
Mossaed Moseilim sentenced for 5 years for criticizing UAE
The Kuwaiti Criminal Court on May 27, 2019, in absentia, ordered the imprisonment of the Kuwaiti activist Mossaed Moseilim, for 5 years in effect and enforcement, and a fine of 10,000 dinars (about $33,000), under accusations of “a hostile action against the United Arab Emirates, insulting the prince, spreading false news and abusing the phone”. This is because of a tweet he published about the UAE.
Former National Assembly candidate arrested for allegedly offending Saudi Arabia
Kuwaiti authorities arrested the activist and former candidate of the National Assembly, Mohammed Khaled al-Hajri, on May 20, 2019, for a three-year prison sentence, allegedly for insulting Saudi Arabia and Prince Muhammad bin Salman, on social media.
[1] The General Authority for Telecommunications and Information Technology, Report of the General Authority for Communications and Information Technology 2018, last visit, November 25, 2019, https://citra.gov.kw/websites/ar/ReportsNdata/CITRA%20Final%20Report%202018.pdf
[2] Al Rai’s website, “acquiring Telecom Companies on Internet Providers: Acquiring International License and entering homes by Phone”, posted May 19, 2019, last visit on November 25, 2019, https://www.alraimedia.com/Home/Details?id=88bbce23-cd5e-4caf-b49d-ef56cd556311
[3] A report by the Public Authority for Telecommunications and Information Technology 2018 published on the TRA website, last visit of November 25, 2019, https://citra.gov.kw/websites/ar/ReportsNdata/CITRA%20Final%20Report%202018.pdf
