Top 13 Online Activities That Could Send You In Jail (3,5,6 and 9 will Shock You)

 

Top 13 Online Activities That Could Send You In Jail

   

Any of these 13 online activities could land you in jail in some part of the world

Internet is an unrestricted realm for its users. It brings you latest information, allows you to share your own useful information as well.. You can also share movies, images and music without any bounds,
allows you to communicate in a split second and share files. It is a medium which is full of advantages, but there are some disadvantages that come with it in some countries.

Particularly if you don’t follow certain rules and regulations laid down by these countries while using the Internet.

Cyber crimes and terrorist attacks have dramatically increased over the years and that may be one of the reasons that if one is seen violating rules of Internet, he/she may be put behind the bars.

So, see the below activities that can get you arrested in some parts of the world.

 

13 Online Activities That Can Get You Arrested and sent to Jail.

1. Having An Open Wi-Fi :- Have an Open Wi-Fi Keeping your WiFi Open and not keeping it password protected can sometimes land you in prison. Your open Wi-Fi connection can be used by criminals or terrorists without your knowledge and this can land you in a very serious trouble with the law of the country you are.

This happened with a person name Barry Covert whose open WiFi was used by his neighbor to access child pornography websites. Though, police arrested his neighbour after investigations, Barry had to face the police questioning for a month before the correct person was arrested.

It is always better to password protect your Wi-Fi with WEP, WPA (WPA-Personal), and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2).

   

2. Deleting Your Search History:- Deleting Your Search History

Sometimes erasing your search history can also land you behind bars. This happened in United States, when a person namely David Kernell was arrested for deleting information on his computer. A University of Tennessee student, Kernell was being investigated by federal authorities for allegedly hacking Yahoo Account of the then vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

India to had brought about laws making it mandatory for users to save their browsing history for 3 months. But the same was scrapped after there was huge public outcry against it.

3. Offensive Posts, Messages or Tweets:- Making offensive posts or tweets or sending offensive messages can land you in trouble in any part of the world. Two persons from Leigh Van Bryan aged 26 and Emily Bunting aged 24 tweeted about their upcoming visit to USA, “Free this week for a quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America”. They were interrogated for about five hours by the authorities. Bryan and Bunting tried to convince the police that “Destroying” was a British slang for “Partying.”

 

4. Using VOIP services:- This issue is country specific and only limited to Ethiopia. Using VOIP services like Skype is strictly prohibited in Ethiopia and can land you in prison (A user from Ethiopia has contradicted this). The country’s new telecommunications law strictly prohibits VOIP services, which consist of audio and video communication and transfer of information over VOIP clients. We advise you that if you are citizen or tourist of Ethiopia, kindly check up with authorities before using Skype or any other VOIP services.

5. Dancing in a Video:- This is a serious offence in Iran. In fact, six persons were arrested for dancing to a video from Pharrell Williams song “Happy”. The Iranian judiciary found them guilty and they received 91 lashes as well as year’s prison sentence. Though later, the sentences were suspended and they were let off in six months in prison.

In Russia, a youth was jailed in Russia for 15 days and two women were jailed for 10 days after they were found to be allegedly dancing and making a video near a second world war memorial.

6. Leaving Internet Comments:- Syria is now a battlefield between different warring factions for control of territory. Even then, commenting on the Internet is a crime in Syria. Human Rights Watch reported that in 2007, Syrian authorities arrested two person and they were shifted to unknown place, apparently for offering their comments about the censorship laws in Syria on a website.

 

7. Translating Articles:- Translating banned books can land you in jail in any country. Thailand authorities arrested an American citizen who translated one such article on his blog. The article was termed as “offensive to the autocracy” by the Thailand authorities who consider their King as a supreme being. Even posting on Facebook/tweeting against the King can land you in jail in the Lese Majeste laws.

In Indonesia, a person was put behind bars for two years after he posted “God does not Exist” on “Facebook”.

8. Gambling:- Online gambling is banned in many countries across the globe and can land you behind the bars or life in prison. This includes if you organize gambling or play online games like Poker, Blackjack etc.

 

9. File Sharing:- File sharing is a contentious issue. In some countries you are free to share movies, images or files without the worry of the law but in many countries it is illegal to share what is considered as pirated content. In some places even downloading torrents is considered as being unlawful.

10. Posting Lyrics on Facebook:- This may have happened only once. Unites States authorities arrested rapper and school student, Cameron D’Ambrosio for posting rap lyrics on Facebook. The police allege that D’Ambrosio made terrorist threats under the garb of rap. Prosecutors sought to charge D’Ambrosio with threats to make a bomb or hijack a vehicle, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

11. Offensive language in posts, tweets or even in private messages:- Well, this one is valid for most countries in the world even if it doesn’t land you behind bars, you will get in trouble for sure. Saying “… before I go and destroy America.” can at least lead to your getting questioned by authorities. This happened to Leigh v.B. and Emily B. who tweeted about their visit to the US. They tried to convince the US authorities afterwards that “destroying” is simply a British slang term for “partying hard”.

12. Sexting:- Sending nude pictures to each other might be legal for adults but not for minors. If they upload or send their own nude pictures it is considered to be “spreading child porn”. This can result in an imprisonment of up to five years. 

13. Using a VPN:- In some countries, using a VPN can get you in trouble with the authorities. In the United Arab Emirates, as the best example, VPN use is semi-legal. It is only considered illegal if it is used to make online calls that would otherwise not be possible, download unauthorized media content, or enter restricted websites. In short, most everything that a VPN is used for. 

Here, I will drop my pen... But please take note that there are many such laws which can put in a spot of bother while surfing online. Making racist comments or hurting religious sentiments is a strict taboo online like it is in the real world. If you know of any other such unknown laws exist in some country, kindly note them down in the comments section.