Oman: Be careful while using emojis and stickers

Muscat: Using emojis or stickers of Omani and non-Omani individuals with sarcastic expressions on social networking sites, including WhatsApp, can lead one to legal trouble.

The penalties may include hefty fines or even imprisonment.

According to technology experts, if you think WhatsApp is a messaging app that lets you talk about anything and send any kind of content, then you are wrong. Using stickers may result in your account being temporarily or even permanently closed.

The problem and advantage of WhatsApp stickers is that they are free, without a filter. Any user can download an app, create stickers and share through it. WhatsApp will allow you to use it no matter what is on the sticker.

Recently, “posters” of Omani and non-Omani figures with sarcastic expressions have increased on social media.

From a legal point of view, having stickers from pictures of people and placing them with funny phrases without the consent of the other party is considered a violation and infringement on the private lives of individuals.

The law stipulates that “anyone who uses the information network or technical means shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than three years, and a fine of not less than RO1,000 and not more than RO5,000, or one of these two penalties.”

The meaning of an individual’s private life is a person’s freedom to choose his lifestyle away from interference and without others being able to see his secrets or spread these secrets without his consent.

One of the forms of violating the sanctity of an individual’s private life is publishing pictures and posters of people without their consent. These designs or pictures must not be immoral but may harm his honour.

Rather, it is sufficient that they harm his reputation or make him appear in an appearance that he dislikes. Or an appearance that shames him. Rather, it is enough to publish it without his consent, as this is considered a direct violation of his private life, which the law guarantees protection from any attack.

The law confirms that preserving the sanctity of individuals’ private lives on the information network has become an important matter. Preserving the privacy of individuals and preventing abuse by any technical means also falls under the preservation of community unity.

Infringing on individuals’ private lives via social networking sites, including WhatsApp, is considered a crime as stipulated in the above article, the penalty is not only the designer of those pictures and posters alone. Rather, legal accountability also falls on the person who publishes it, who is considered an accomplice in the same crime and punished for it.

Everyone must preserve the sanctity of individuals’ private lives by not modifying their photos, putting them in an inappropriate position, and publishing them as posters or as pictures on social networking sites. Everyone who receives these pictures and posters must delete them and not publish them to avoid legal accountability.