Kuwait: Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Tweet Deemed Insulting to Muhammad

Here in the civilized West, we don't throw people in jail for saying something offensive about Muhammad. We just call them "racists," "bigots," and "Islamophobes." Not quite as effective as jail, but it gets the job done. Just ask politicians and the media.

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Twitter users in two Gulf Arab countries received prison terms Monday, rights activist said, in the latest sign of widening crackdowns in the region on social media for posts considered offensive or against state security.

The court decisions in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are likely to bring renewed protests from international rights groups accusing Gulf authorities of using codes against dissent to try to muzzle open expression on the Internet.

In Kuwait, a court sentenced a Twitter user, Musaab Shamsah, to five years in prison after he was convicted of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, said activist Nawaf al-Hendal.

Sahmsah was arrested following a Twitter post he allegedly made in May that made references to the descendants of Islam's prophet. The post, since taken down, could be taken as endorsing Shiite beliefs in the Sunni-ruled country. (Continue Reading.)