A case for controls on selfies

Fahd Bin Jleid Al-Jazirah RUSSIA has become the first country in the world to set controls on taking selfies. It launched awareness campaigns before enacting the law after several fatal accidents. In my opinion, awareness on the use of new technology is essential and useful, whatever the real reasons behind the ban or control. A booklet on controls on taking selfies in Russia says they are totally banned in some areas that may threaten your life and the lives of others. Examples include while riding a boat, driving a car, standing in the middle of the street, climbing or descending stairs, when climbing mountains and near power cables. Whoever is found to have taken selfies in such places is subject to punishment for violating the law. Selfies expose you to danger. One of the most dangerous pictures published by Russia's Novosti news agency showed a young Egyptian taking a selfie the moment a train entered a metro station where he was standing. The news agency also published selfies that cost the snappers their lives. There was the case of a young woman who fell from a bridge in Moscow when she tried to take a selfie on her 17th birthday. In another case, two female friends died after their cars collided while they were taking selfies on the night they were bidding farewell to single life. There were numerous sad stories published online of people all over the world who died, all for the simple reason of taking a selfie. If we were to lay down restrictions on taking selfies in our own country, wouldn’t they be the strangest in the world? Imagine yourself drawing up the guidelines on the ethics of taking selfies, using what has been previously published as a guide. First, it is forbidden to take a selfie with your dead grandfather, during prayer, after stealing money from a bank, while passing by a horrific road accident, with a jinn, a picture of a boy in a container, when wearing the logo of a rival team, while driving an airport taxi, with an international star without his knowledge and with people behind you whose permission you have not obtained. You would be violating their privacy. The Traffic Department was the first authority in our country to consider taking a selfie while driving a violation. Perhaps another authority might forbid a similar case. Why aren’t all the situations where taking a selfie is banned compiled into a guide by the Saudi Telecom Company (STC)?