Introduction
Cybercrime in the simplest terms can be defined as the crime committed by using the internet and/ or electronic devices. An attempt to access the secretive and personal/ financial information about an individual or business, promoting or doing unlawful activities through internet, defamation of an individual or business through social media are some of the common examples of cybercrimes. The internet has become an integral part of everyone’s daily life for its innumerable advantages, but at the same time it is the biggest threat as it allows a lot of people to have access to confidential information. All the countries around the world have their own laws to deal with such crimes and this article aims to highlight major provisions of Anti Cybercrime law of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
The Law
The Anti-Cybercrime Law of KSA was promulgated by Royal decree no. M/17 on 26th March, 2007. The governing text of the law is in Arabic and the law contains sixteen articles. Like all laws in the Kingdom, the basis of this law is Shariah which protects right to privacy for everyone and prohibitions of any invasions thereon.
With the increased spread of social media in the past couple of years, the number of cybercrimes has also gone up. Sometimes, many social media users are not even aware that they are doing a crime and sometimes, the users commit cybercrimes, believing the regulatory authorities won’t be able to catch them. However, hiding from regulatory authorities at KSA in not so easy. Many arrests and prosecutions, including social media celebrities have been reported in the Kingdom for cybercrimes in the recent past. The paragraphs below shall highlight different types of cyber crimes and penalties for these crimes under the KSA Law.
We shall divide the cybercrimes in three categories for better understanding based on penalties for them.
Category 1 : This category shall include the following crimes:
- Gaining illegal access to any data or system or computer to blackmail or coercion;
- Defamation of any legal or natural person;
- Invading the privacy of an individual
Penalties : Any person who commits above mentioned crimes shall be liable to payment of fine up to 500,000 Saudi Riyals or imprisonment for up to one year or both of them.
Category 2 : This category shall include unauthorized access or hacking of social media accounts and the persons found guilty shall be punishable with imprisonment of up to four years or a fine of 3,000,000 Saudi Riyals.
Category 3 : This category shall include the following:
- Crimes related to publication, transmission or storage of any material that is inconsistent with public policy, morality, religious value of the nation;
- Publishing Pornography;
- Promotion or distribution of Narcotics or hallucinatory materials
Penalties : Any person who commits above mentioned crimes shall be liable to pay of fine up to 3,000,000 Saudi Riyals or imprisonment for up to five year or both of them.
Complaints
A person who is a victim of cybercrime can file his complaint at the nearest police station or to the appropriate authority at the Ministry of Internal Affairs if the crime comes under category 3 mentioned above. A charge sheet shall be prepared by appropriate authority once a complaint is registered and the suspect is identified. The case will then be forwarded to the criminal court.
Final word
Anti Cyber Crime law of KSA is a legislation designed to protect the privacy of the individuals and punish the criminals for invading privacy of an individual or doing any other activity oppose to the public policy, religion or morality of the Kingdom. However, it is important to note that ignorance of law is no excuse. If an individual commits any crime without knowing that they are committing a crime cannot walk freely on this ground. The social media users should guard their actions to ensure they will not land in jail for committing a cybercrime in ignorance and criminals should expect their meetings with lawyers very soon.
