Bahrain revealed on Saturday that its monitoring of recent social media posts revealed that Qatar was running false accounts aimed at harming Manama’s ties with Saudi Arabia.
The monitoring of the posts has shown a systematic targeting of Bahrain to compromise its national interests by influencing public opinion on various issues, including naturalization, to damage the close and special Bahraini-Saudi relations and target the economy by circulating false information through fake accounts run from Qatar and by fugitives escaping justice, reported the Bahrain news agency (BNA).
The Ministry of Interior clarified that such accounts incite sedition and hatred to undermine Bahrain’s social fabric and jeopardize the upcoming parliamentary elections by negatively focusing on a number of issues, including the new pension scheme, to negatively sway public opinion and distort the Bahraini identity to project it as having negative characteristics.
In general, these threats constitute a deliberate assault against the citizens although they are immune to the risks such attempts pose. They have proven throughout the past their firm stand on national values due to their awareness and sincere determination to foil all attempts targeting security and social peace, the Ministry said.
The Interior Ministry, through the General Directorate of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security will continue to monitor the social media accounts that violate the law and harm civil peace and the social fabric.
Legal action has also been taken in this regard.
The Ministry affirmed the constitutional principles that protect the citizens’ rights, especially their freedom of expression, and urged them to follow the laws relating to such rights. They must also ensure that the information they circulate is credible by obtaining it from official sources. They should not post malicious rumors that go against security and civil peace.
The Ministry of Interior called on the public to be cautious and avoid recirculating false reports, as the current stage requires joint efforts, unity, an awareness to protect the nation’s supreme interests, and civil peace. Strengthening of national unity is the responsibility of all, it stressed.
The Ministry urged everyone to assume responsibility to control the risks posed by social media and reduce its negative impact. The current phase is crucial and requires everyone to remain firm in the face of threats and avoid drifting towards destructive ideas.
It called upon citizens, journalists, media figures and all organizations in the Kingdom to perform their role in spreading awareness to protect society from the threats posed by social media. They must ensure positive public opinions that challenge such malign campaigns through the commitment to the law and consideration for Arab values and traditions of Bahraini society.
