Facebook Peril !

The age of the computer is said to be the " communication age " and the public certainly embraced public information channels like Facebook and Twitter.  Some reveal embarrassing details of their personal lives and it is not uncommon for insults to be exchanged.  So far that seems to be mostly legally unchallenged in " free speech "  Australia.

What you post on Facebook appears to a world audience and some people are finding that it comes back to haunt them when they holiday overseas.  Not all countries are as tolerant as Australia and comments that are acceptable in this country can get you a prison sentence elsewhere.

Just that happened to a woman from Lebanon who was holidaying in Egypt.  Apparently she was harassed by two men in a Cairo street in an upmarket neighbourhood and suffered ill treatment by a taxi driver.  That caused her to let loose a diatribe in which she called Egyptian president Abdul -Fattah El-Sissi unjust and Egypt a " son of a bitch country ".

Those remarks on Facebook brought arrest and she found herself charged with having  " deliberately broadcast false rumours which aim to undermine society and attack religion. "   The judge handed her an eleven year prison sentence, reduced to eight years the next day on appeal.   Egypt is one of many countries that take any form of criticism seriously and have draconian laws in place.  In Thailand the king is revered and even criticising his dog can bring a prison sentence.

Travellers returning from an overseas holiday and reporting their experiences on Facebook need to use caution.  What they say is on the public record, and if they return to that country years later it may bring retribution.

There is not a lot that Australian consular services can do to help if you get into trouble overseas. Local law must run its course and in some cases the tourist may have unwittingly intruded into a political issue or comments may be misconstrued as support for a local insurgency.  We would be wise to steer well clear of religious issues when we travel abroad.

That woman in Egypt facers an uncertain future.  Tourism has lagged because of unrest following revolution in that country and the Egyptian government may commute her sentence to avoid bad publicity, but she may have to serve her time in an Egyptian prison if they choose not to intervene.  A lot would depend on how strong her home country's trade relations influence the Egyptian authorities.

We would be wise to remember that we are guests in someone elses country when we travel overseas - and act accordingly.  Reporting what we see as truthful comment can easily earn us a savage prison sentence from which there is little chance of relief.