Action that can be taken when online content crosses the line

Nick O'Connell of legal firm Al Tamimi talks about his role and the challenges facing businesses regarding online law.

Nick O'Connell is a senior associate at the telecoms, media and technology practice at Al Tamimi. Here, he talks about his role and the challenges facing businesses regarding online law.

What sort of problems do your clients come to you with?

It is very diverse. One particularly common issue is advertising content and whether an advertisement is scandalous or offensive and whether it could be seen to be breaching provisions of the Cyber Law. Another is where employers want to monitor employees' misuse of company IT systems, such as by misusing email or overstepping permitted authorisations to steal data, maybe client lists or customer contact details, from the company. There is lack of clarity on the extent to which the law would permit an employer to undertake that type of investigation. We have also encountered instances where people have set up Facebook or LinkedIn accounts in the name of former employers and where disgruntled former employees have used social media to disparage their former employers.

How can businesses prevent offensive content on their website?

There is no clear guidance under local law as to the extent to which a business would be legally responsible for "user generated content" posted on its website or social network site by members of the public. Businesses should monitor their sites, and remove offensive content quickly if it breaches the types of parameters that one would expect. If you allow offensive user-generated content to remain on your website or social network site, there would be greater chance of the authorities concluding that you should be held responsible for it in some way.

What about content posted about a company outside of the UAE?

If someone was simply criticising your company, you could potentially seek to have the website blocked locally. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority tends to focus on blocking content that does not conform to cultural norms of the UAE and would be less likely to block content that was simply critical of a particular business. Depending on the nature of the offending content, it might be appropriate to file a complaint with the police or to file a civil case against the person responsible and to use that as a basis for seeking to have the content removed. In a cross-border context, it can be very difficult and costly to take action.