The Kuwaiti Ministry of Information has warned that unnamed parties are blackmailing government officials on social media, vowing to take legal measures against them.
Some Kuwaiti MPs and politicians criticized the statement claiming it restricts freedom of opinion.
Media sources expect the Ministry, in cooperation with the security authorities, to launch a campaign against suspicious social media accounts after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The Ministry accused the accounts of blackmailing ministers and government officials, forcing them to take certain decisions or actions.
The Ministry issued a statement asserting its intention to monitor all these cases and refer them to concerned authorities for taking the necessary actions that preserve the status of public office for state employees in the public interest.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Information, Anwar Murad, said that the cooperation comes from the Ministry’s keenness to coordinate media work in the public interest.
Murad explained that the Ministry is willing to cooperate with the media for the public’s interest, asserting it will be relentless and would spare no effort in holding accountable anyone who tries to use blackmail to further their interests.
Member of parliament Abdul Karim al-Kandari rejected and condemned the statement of the Ministry of Information.
Kandari said on Twitter the statement sounds like a threat, noting that cases of blackmail against officials or public employees should be referred to the judiciary.
