Informative Lecture: Blackmail and Extortion through Social Networking Sites

College of Law at Ajman University in collaboration with Community department at Ajman Police organized an informative lecture on “Blackmail extortion across social networking sites”. Captain Dr. Mohammed Juma Hazim Al Suwaidi, Director of Community Police in the Emirates of Ajman. Dr. Lateefa Hameed, Dean College of Law along with faculty members and college students attended the lecture held on campus.

The lecture highlighted the important issues that endanger and damage our youth because of lack of attentive measures. He stressed on the vigilant use of the internet and explained the various ways in which people fall prey to the conman who are using the net to exploit the innocent.

He outlined measures to be undertaken to safeguard the internet users, prevention and precaution while posting anything on the social media should be exercised. Using social media responsibly and not revealing personal data or details are just some ways to ensure a safe environment. Blackmail is now common practice because privacy is not adhered to when using social media sites, people post personal pictures and details which can be used for negative impact in the persons’ life. Extortion through blackmail in recent times has increased because people post pictures, which are then extracted by blackmailers who use technology to edit and alter them.

This is punishable by UAE law under the Decree of the Federal Law No. (5) issued in the year 2012 for combating cybercrimes, wherein Article 16 states imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine of not less than two hundred fifty thousand dirhams and not exceeding five hundred thousand dirhams. The legislation stresses that this crime can result in imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years if they threatened to commit a felony or harmed someone’s honor.