Penalty proposal for taking photos or videos of car accidents rejected in Bahrain

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An amendment to the traffic law that sought to punish people who took pictures or videos of car accidents and posted them on social media with six months in jail or a BD500 fine has been rejected by the Shura Council.

During yesterday’s session, the council followed the recommendation of MPs and voted to reject the controversial amendment to the 2014 Traffic Law.

The amendment sought to prevent people from taking photographs, videos or recording audio with their smartphones, cameras or tablets unless they were authorised media personnel, the driver of a vehicle involved in the accident or a passenger.

In addition to protecting the privacy of the people involved in the accident it sought to help move traffic along accident sites because people often slow down to take pictures whenever they see accidents on the road.

“We discussed how to criminalise taking pictures of accidents in public places,” legislative and legal affairs committee chairwoman Dalal Al Zayed told the GDN.

“However, we agreed that this law should not be part of the Traffic Law, but as part of the Penal Code, specifically Article 307, which is about spreading information.

“In addition to the Penal Code there is the information technology law, both of which did not cover the matter at hand and the criminal intent is different for both.”

According to other council members, the amendment was too specific and did not cover aspects of invasion of privacy and they did not believe it should be part of the Traffic Law.

“The government agrees with what the law is attempting to do with regards to protecting the privacy of anyone involved in an accident, whether it was traffic accidents or fires or a building collapse,” said Interior Ministry ministerial committees head Captain Mohammed Al Hermi.

“The government agrees with the fundamentals of the law but disagrees with the legal and legislative terms,” he said.

The GDN previously reported that when the issue was first discussed in May last year, an Interior Ministry official had urged the amendment be incorporated in the 1976 Penal Code – and have it cover fires and worksite accidents besides car crashes. However, now with the Shura Council’s rejection the proposed amendment would be shelved forever.