The Ministry of Commerce and Investment declared that the Cabinet's approval to include the penalty of defamation online, in addition to the local newspapers, would be in favor of the public interest and would deter the violators and prevent them of committing any violations. This procedure would keep pace with the current time, in term of the great influence of the media and modern communication.
The Ministry added that any violation related to Anti-Commercial Fraud Law, Anti-Commercial Concealment Law and the Commercial Data System will be subject to defaming online, in addition to the local newspapers, as per the cabinet’s approval.
The Ministry pointed out that under the new amendments to the rules of defaming, the competent court would determine the manner of publishing the defamation penalty either in a local newspaper or in any other appropriate media, depending on the type of the offense committed and its impact and effect on the public, provided that the publication shall take effect after the issuance of the final sentence, and the defendant shall bear all the expenses.
It is worth mentioning that the defaming penalty is issued against those who violate the provisions of the stipulated Rules & Regulations, and those who deliberately harm the consumers and the community. Therefore, defaming against the offenders online and via the media shall fulfill the desired goals and objectives, that is deterring and preventing the offenders from committing any violation, besides keeping the largest number of the public informed, and thus the public interest has been taken into consideration.
Notably, the media used for defaming, as per the new amendment, shall include the websites, social media, SMS, e-mail, the electronic applications and any other online means that contribute to convey the message to the public.