The immediacy of social media, where in a matter of seconds a smartphone can post images or video on Facebook or Twitter, does not always sit well with the high value placed on privacy in our culture. This can lead to problems, as demonstrated this week by the deportation of an Australian woman in Abu Dhabi who made insulting comments while posting a photograph of a car taking up two disabled parking bays.
The case raises important questions about whether the law in the UAE has kept pace with technology available to those who live here and with the culture of our society. This is hardly a problem isolated to this country – legislators all over the world have tried to find the right balance on this issue.
But this kind of delicate balancing act, where the law attempts to reflect the broad consensus of society’s attitude to an issue, is exactly why the Federal National Council was created. With connections deep into Emirati society, reflecting the attitudes voiced at majlises, coffee houses, shisha cafes and other gathering places across the country, it is in a unique position to advise on where to draw the line between privacy and openness in the era of instant communications.
It hardly needs to be emphasised how fast society has changed in the UAE – just contrast Abu Dhabi’s 2,000 inhabitants in the pre-oil era 60 years ago to the million-plus people living in the sprawling capital now. This change includes residents’ expectations of privacy but another factor is the rise of social media, with more than five million people in the UAE using Facebook, a service that only launched in 2003. Twitter is even more recent but the immediacy of such social media platforms has amplified the pace of change in UAE society, which has one of the world’s highest rates of smartphone usage. The relative youth of the population, with roughly one in three Emiratis aged 20 or younger, is yet another factor. This group disproportionately uses social media.
The format of the FNC has also been changing to better reflect this. The second term of the FNC featured a wider range of Emirati society, with roughly one in three voters aged between 21 and 30. The third session will be even more representative in terms of both age and gender. When it comes to making the difficult balance on privacy,opinions should be heard.
