Supreme Religious Authority Determines The Religious, Ethical Rules of Publishing on Social Media

The representative of the Supreme Religious Authority Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi Al-Karbalai, reviewed the religious and ethical rules for publishing through social media.

Al-Karbalai said on the Friday prayer sermon held at the holy shrine of Imam Al-Hussein "peace be upon him" on March 12, 2019, that there are ethical and religious rules for online publishing, which will be useful if they were followed, and will be harmful to the society's cultural, moral and social security if they were ignored.

"These platforms have begun to dominate and overcome the rest of the traditional means of publishing, and they are in the process of taking dominance in society," he said, pointing out that "It is natural for these platforms to be accompanied by many social, cultural and psychological risks, which lead them to transform from a blessing into a curse if they weren't framed by religious and moral standards".

He called for the need to think about the consequences of what is published, noting that "Some of which could be harmful to sensitive fields and dangerous to human life, and there is no way then to take it back, then its harmful consequences will emerge and will lead to regret as some of those platforms are full of views, articles and news coming from unknown sources and with bad intentions," citing the Qoarnic verse "O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done".

Al-Karbalai also forbade the publication of a material with lies or defamation against others, pointing out that it is not rightful for some to cover the slander committed by them against those who differ in thought or belief, with religion in order to topple them socially, warning at the same time of publishing materials aimed to degrade human dignity or to provoke hatred and strife among society, especially the religious, sectarian or ethnic strife, citing the holy Hadith "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the people are safe".

The representative of the Supreme Religious Authority, warned against the phenomenon of online blackmail, noting that " Some people, are using the right of freedom to use the cyber space, as an excuse to satisfy their evil tendencies by hacking other people's sites to publish their private information in order to blackmail them for money, or for defaming them socially, which has led the targeted people, especially the females, to quit their jobs, or to relocate their residences as a result of what they’ve faced as a social embarrassment.