The General Presidency of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice announced that the rumors circulated on social media regarding the work of the Commission are not true. Stressing that the General Presidency carries out its duties and specializations in accordance with its regulations and instructions.
The General Commission for Audiovisual Media had summoned a content creator who had published content containing false information about the implementation of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, a decision that includes forcing those caught in illegal solitude to marry for a period of two years with a dowry ceiling of 1,000 riyals.
And the creator of the content, through her account on one of the social media platforms, broadcast incorrect information stating that whoever does not adhere to that period shall be punished with 10 years in prison, with the imposition of a flogging penalty, and this and its content included misleading information about the decision that caused public opinion to stir up.
In this regard, Majed Al-Ahmari, the lawyer and legal advisor, explained to “Okaz” that what the content maker did is considered a violation of the executive regulations for electronic publishing activity, and is also an explicit violation of the system for combating information crimes, expecting her case to the Public Prosecution to take the legal action in exchange for what she promoted. Something that sparked public opinion.
He added that the production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material that would prejudice public order, religious values, public morals, or the sanctity of private life, through the information network or a computer, is criminalized according to the first paragraph of Article 6 of the law. Combating information crimes issued by Royal Decree No. M/17 dated 3/8/1428, and the maximum penalty for that is five years in prison, and a fine of three million riyals, in addition to publishing a summary of the ruling at the expense of the convict.
Al-Ahmari stressed that the Public Prosecution Office had previously warned against spreading rumors and lies about any matter “related to public order”, promoting it, or participating in it in any way through social media, especially those whose “origin” is hostile parties managed from abroad. Stressing that this is a major crime that requires arrest, according to the Anti-Cyber Crime Law and the Criminal Procedure Law.
It is noteworthy that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice confirmed earlier (in 2012) that the rumor reported by the creator of the content was incorrect.
And the content creator was previously subjected to a previous penalty by imposing a fine of 400,000 Saudi riyals for violating, along with another Snapchat celebrity, the media content controls, and they published a video that included abuse on the social media of a country.
