Expat in Kuwait arrested, faces deportation for insulting Kuwaitis on social media

An Asian expat in Kuwait who was accused of insulting Kuwaitis on social media, was arrested in the country, local daily Kuwait Times reported.

The expat has been detained with four others who were also found in violation of the residency law, the interior ministry said.

They face legal action and will be deported, while their sponsors will also be held to account, the report added.

The ministry also said that some social media users who uttered indecent words against Prophet Muhammad were identified and arrested, and will now face legal action.

Also read: Kuwait to procure social media monitoring programme

The Gulf country has strict laws regulating social media activity in the wake of cases of alleged blasphemy and sectarianism that have prompted protests.

A number of individuals have been detained in the country in recent years for comments made on social media.

Read: Four Kuwaitis Detained Over Twitter Comments

In February last year, the country’s criminal court sentenced blogger Dr Abdullah Al-Saleh to five years in prison with labour on charges of slandering the UAE.

Read: Kuwait blogger given 5-year prison sentence for insulting UAE

Political activist Tariq al-Mutairi was also arrested in 2015 on suspicion of insulting Saudi Arabia on Twitter.

Read: Kuwait Detains Political Activist Over Tweets Against Saudi Arabia