Al-Jazirah

A VIDEO clip recently went viral on social media websites. I received it more than 10 times on WhatsApp alone. It showed an owner of a bookstore claiming that he had discovered a sorceress who came to make photocopies of some papers containing talismans.

I am not here defending the woman who does not mean much to me. On the contrary, I salute everyone who discovers corruption and crimes.

However, fighting corruption is not done by posting a video footage on the Internet. This is clear defamation according to the cyber crimes law. Such acts will turn the entire society to the jungle law where survival is for the fittest.

People may attempt to take revenge on others who they may consider to be criminals by publishing videos on social media with comments that often contain foul language.

The correct approach in such cases makes it imperative on anyone who discovers crimes or corruption cases to go to the law. He or she should go to the police instead of taking the law into their own hands.

It is the police who will decide the course of action in such cases, not the people who may erroneously believe that they have uncovered a crime or an instance of corruption.

Those who post videos of what they consider to be a crime from their own point of view will be undermining the authority of the police. They will also be undermining the noble Islamic values, good mannerism and the principles of human rights.

People who take the law into their own hands by filming and defaming others who they believe are criminals should know that even the criminals have God-given rights, which should not be tampered with through defamation.

I have noticed that some people are filming and circulating anything and everything without any feeling of responsibility toward others. Some of them even go farther to boast of their acts. This was clear in the sound recording that accompanied the video clip of the alleged sorceress.

The owner of the library was proudly speaking about the magic he had discovered in the papers the woman wanted to photocopy.

He was so proud of his work to the point that he was expecting to be rewarded for this highly artistic work. He mistakenly expected that when the video became viral, he would be rewarded by the police. It was clear that he had no idea that defaming people is a crime in the eyes of the law.

I think the hail and praise the photographers and publishers of some incidents on social media receive from the public had encouraged many to just film whatever they may consider to be a crime or a case of corruption. These people were not punished for their actions. This had encouraged many others to follow suit.

The electronic media encourage such actions when they publish all such videos without even bothering to conceal the photo of the alleged criminal.

The Ministry of Culture and Information should be the sole authority to punish such acts by the electronic media, which really have crossed all limits.

Such demeanors should not be tolerated. Society should realize that we are not living in a jungle. People should not give themselves the power of an attorney to judge on electronic crimes. They should know that there are legal bodies concerned to deal with such acts. There are also legal bodies to judge the criminals.