A 13-year-old girl is on trial in Abu Dhabi after she posted a picture of a schoolmate on Facebook. A normal, staged photo of a girl in a headscarf.
Let that sink in.
According to the website 7 Days in Abu Dhabi, the photo was not indecent and the girl was wearing a headscarf. But her parents pressed charges over the violation of privacy. The accused faces misdemeanor charges now, which could lead to her being placed under supervision or being barred from using the Internet.
Despite the fact that prosecutors say the girl clearly posed for the photo, her parents are insisting that she did not know it was being taken.
“The mother got angry and informed her husband about their daughter’s picture,” a prosecutor told 7 Days in Abu Dhabi. “When they asked their daughter, she told them that she did not know how her photo was taken and never authorized her friend to post her picture.”
It is a criminal offense in the United Arab Emirates to post photos or pictures of people online without their consent.
The accused insists that her friend had asked her to post the photo – but lacks any proof of this. Maybe she should have videotaped her friend asking her and posted it to Facebook.