SHAFAQNA – A MAN has been arrested for allegedly publicising rioting on social media. The Bahraini, 29, is accused of misusing telecommunication devices. He was remanded in custody for 30 days yesterday as he appeared before a remand judge to plead not guilty. However, he initially admitted to the charges to prosecutors saying he set up Twitter and Facebook accounts named ‘Al E’alam Al Muqawim’ (Media Resistance) to advertise news about riots and illegal rallies. ‘I opened a Twitter account in the name of Al Elam Al Muqawim since the 2011 unrest,’ he said in his statement to prosecutors. ‘I followed many accounts on social media and wanted to make one that shared news of the villages and rallies in Bahrain.
‘After I received 15,000 followers on Twitter I decided to make a Facebook account, which was followed by 10,000 people. ‘I then used a female relative to help me run the accounts and started to purchase applications from Google Play that I had bought for BD10 using the same name as my other accounts. ‘I also allowed other accounts to access my social media and publish their news.’ The Twitter account currently has more than 26,000 followers.