Law to penalise filming of mishaps

Manama : Filming traffic accidents may land you in jail, if MPs endorse a new law that criminalises publicising accidents and harming others’ privacy.

The House of Representatives will view and discuss a report prepared by its Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee on the matter.

The committee had last year received a proposal from MP Mohammed Al Maarifi, suggesting subjecting those who film and publicise traffic accidents to fines and imprisonment.

The committee endorsed the proposal after excluding the people involved in the accident and accredited media personnel.

“The proposal aims at amending the existing traffic law to curb crowding at accidents’ sites with the aim to film them and share the footage online, without taking others’ privacy into consideration. Such phenomena have negative effects on the society, as individuals’ pictures are circulated against their will and without knowing about it,” committee members explained in its report, adding that “the amendment would also curb the disruption of traffic caused by crowding”.

After reviewing it with several authorities such as Interior Ministry and the National Institute for Human Rights, the committee endorsed the proposal, introducing punishments of “imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months and a fine not less than BD50 and not exceeding BD500 or one of these penalties for individuals who film and publicise traffic accidents through any electronic or other means”.

Justifying the proposal, Al Maarifi had earlier stated, “We’ve reached an advanced yet dangerous era of communication technologies. People nowadays see pictures of their loved ones’ injured or dead even before they could be informed about it by the concerned official authorities, who are trained on how to deliver such news. On top of that, they hinder the flow of traffic and halt the concerned authorities’ work to save the lives of the victims involved in the accident. To combat this alien phenomenon, we must criminalise such acts by amending the existing laws.”

The House will review, discuss and vote on the committee’s report on Tuesday so it could be referred to Shura Council and the Government for further approval.