Fundraising ads return; ‘Illegal donations’

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 21: Fundraising advertisements are back on the forefront as soon as an issue that occupies public opinion appears on the surface. Some people use it as a means to collect donations without following the legal methods in this regard, reports Al-Seyassah daily. According to sources from the Ministry of Information, the minister of Information, at the request of His Highness the Prime Minister, has formed a team to monitor the advertisements of celebrities and religious platforms in which they call for donations to support projects or fight diseases and the use of drugs without obtaining a license from the Audiovisual Department.

The sources revealed that the ministry monitored an advertisement that urged for donations to fight drugs, indicating that the person in charge of such a campaign would be summoned and legal action would be taken against him. They explained that this matter is regulated by the provisions of the electronic media law No. 8/2016, article 5 of which states that, “This law is applicable to the following electronic sites and electronic information media –

1. Electronic publication houses

2. Electronic news agencies

3. Electronic journalism

4. News services

5. Websites, information service facilities and commercial advertisements

6. Websites of newspapers and audio-video satellite channels.

The sources said, “The rules of this law do not apply to a domain or facility or a personal electronic account whose user is not characterized to be of specialized professionalism”. They affirmed that the law gives the ministry the right to close the site and refer those calling for donations to the judicial authorities.

The sources affirmed that any advertisements by celebrities or that calls for charities if no prior media permission was obtained will be monitored. In a related matter, informed sources from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Community Development affirmed that the State Audit Bureau stressed the need for coordination between the bureau, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Central Bank of Kuwait to bring an end to the automated system of linking between them, and work with it in implementation of the Cabinet’s decision, the recommendations of the work group, and the national strategy to combat money laundering and to provide it with what has been completed in this regard.

They explained that upon scrutiny, it was found that the Ministry of Social Affairs had not completed the automated linking system with the aforementioned authorities to tighten the audit of external financial transfers issued by charity organizations and civil societies, which numbered more than 48.

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