Qatar’s Interior Ministry announced this week that 313 people have been arrested for filming unauthorized videos and sharing what authorities called “misleading information” related to recent security developments.
The arrests were carried out by the Economic and Cyber Crimes Prevention Department. Legal and administrative measures were taken against those arrested.
The ministry told residents to stop filming or sharing videos related to the situation and to get their information exclusively from approved official sources.
That announcement came as Qatar was simultaneously processing a missile attack from Iran. On Saturday, Iran reportedly fired 10 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles at Qatar. According to the Defense Ministry, six ballistic missiles were intercepted, two cruise missiles were intercepted, two missiles fell into territorial waters, and two landed in an uninhabited area. No casualties were reported.
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Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Monday that Doha feels “betrayed” by Iran.
The official story, delivered exclusively through approved channels, is that the missiles mostly missed and everyone should remain calm. The unofficial record, the videos residents filmed and shared while it was happening, is now a criminal matter.
Qatar’s instructions to residents are explicit: no filming, no sharing, no sources other than official statements. Anyone who circulated footage of the attack, or posted something the government decided was a “rumor,” is in the category of people now facing legal action.
The government’s answer was 313 arrests and an instruction to wait for official statements.
Who decides what counts as “misleading information” about a missile attack? The government that just got hit by one is issuing statements about how well its defenses performed. Residents have no independent way to verify the official account. The people who tried to provide one are now under arrest.
