JEDDAH: Different interpretations of the legal boundaries of publishing the names of establishments that commit violations, or are accused of committing violations — such as hospitals that commit malpractice, restaurants that serve stale food or employers who don’t pay their workers — has had a chilling effect on the media’s ability to publish their names.
Few newspapers in the Kingdom venture into this territory out of fear of legal reprisals. But the glaring omissions in the press have not gone unnoticed by the public.
“What is the point of writing a story about a hospital where medical malpractice takes place without naming the hospital?” asked Rida, a 30-year-old mother of two. “How do readers benefit from such stories? Newspapers should state the names of the establishments where violations take place. This would make us more aware when dealing with them.”
Saudi Arabia subscribes to the Islamic concept of “tash’hir,” an Islamic privacy and libel law aimed at protecting people from false allegations or accusations lacking witnesses or other concrete evidence. Like Western privacy and libel laws, experts say that the truth is the best protection against tash’hir lawsuits.
“I don’t consider it tash’hir as long as the story is not taken out of context; as long as all documents are present; the story is taken from all sides; and everyone related to the issue enjoyed their right of defense,” said Abu Bakr Bagadir, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Culture and Information, the government department in charge of media matters. “If the newspapers are not conveying accurately what is going wrong in society and not showing it clearly to responsible authorities, we are basically doing nothing. Thus we urge newspapers to convey stories objectively.”
Bagadir added that the media play an important role in “reform, justice and lawfulness.”
Madinah-based litigator Saud Awwad Al-Hujaili, a member of the Arab Lawyer’s Union, said that in the cases of companies that are accused of breaking the law, the media should expose the names of these establishments and avoid impugning the owners or key players of the company.
“Hospitals where malpractice is documented should be named in public,” he said. “If the case is documented and is dealt with legally, there is no harm in carrying it out in the press. The establishment also has the right to file a lawsuit against a publication if the information printed is not accurate. Stories published should not speak about individuals, their titles or any other personal information, but rather just about the malpractice taking place.”
In the case of companies that have been accused of wrongdoings with no concrete evidence, one Shariah expert says that establishing a pattern of wrongdoing is important. If the company has a history of complaints, then the media should definitely publish its name if not the names of individual owners or managers involved.
“It depends on how huge the negative impact is and whether these establishments are insisting on proceeding in these practices,” said Sheikh Misfir Al-Gahtani, professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. “They can be named without being harmful to individuals. This is considered a way to correct the vices going on in society. Publishing such violations aims at notifying the public and reprimanding the guilty establishments without harming the dignity of individuals.”
One woman, who did not want her name published, said a doctor sued her after she went to the press and accused a hospital of malpractice. “The judge basically rejected the doctor’s claim that what I committed was tash’hir,” she said. “I did not attack the doctor in person but rather the establishment.”
Still, publishing the names of establishments accused of wrongdoings is a touchy matter. The media still fear that publishing the names of companies exposes them to tash’hir lawsuits. And considering this, reporters and editors in Saudi Arabia often keep these names out of circulation.
