Rights Watchdog Slams Qatar's 'Fake News' Law For Gagging Free Expression

Rights Watchdog Slams Qatar's 'Fake News' Law for Gagging Free Expression

Qatar's move to penalize "fake news" is a setback for freedom of expression for a nation that prides itself for being more permissive than its neighbors, a rights advocacy group said Wednesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2020) Qatar's move to penalize "fake news" is a setback for freedom of expression for a nation that prides itself for being more permissive than its neighbors, a rights advocacy group said Wednesday.

Qatar amended its criminal code last week to punish the publishing of "fake news" and "rumors" that harm national interests or disturb public order with a prison term of up to five years and a $27,500 fine.

"Qatar loves to advertise how it's supposedly more open than its neighbors, but this law uses the same playbook as other Gulf states to muzzle free expression," Michael Page, deputy chief for middle East at Human Rights Watch, said.

The watchdog warned that the phrasing of the new law did not define "fake news" or outline standards for assessing the harm that it allegedly inflicts. It also doubles down on a 2014 law criminalizing spreading rumors online.

"Qatar should be removing legal provisions that restrict free expression, not adding more vague provisions like 'fake news' that chill critical public debate on important issues," Page said.

He argued that the amendment ran counter to the Qatari constitution that guarantees freedom of expression as well as a UN treaty on civil and political rights that the small Gulf country signed up to in 2018.