Sending heart emojis on social media platforms is viewed as sexual harassment under Saudi Arabia laws, and may lead to 5 years in prison and fines of 300,000 Saudi Rials, says Al Motaz Kuthbi, a cybercrime expert.
The Saudi law on sexual harassment permits non-consensual language, sexually explicit emojis, and red-heart emojis sent through private chat is admissible in a lawsuit, the expert said Saudi Arabain news outlet, Okaz.
According to the expert, that extends to intrusive conversations that violate a user’s privacy on social media.
Using technology or verbal means such as insults, slurs, and threats constitute sexual harassment under Saudi laws related to cybercrimes, Kuthbi explained to the same source.
The law also prohibits the use of emojis with sexual connotations and expressions that refer to the receiver’s body in an attempt to induce non-consensual conversations, he said.
Kutbi warned the users within the app to avoid intruding into anyone’s conversation or engaging in an uncomfortable conversation without their consent. Emojis with red hearts should also be used with caution, he said explicitly.
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