AKEED, Anwar Ziadat

The Drivers and Motor Vehicles Licensing Department, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, organized an auction to sell 15 unique vehicle license plate numbers on Wednesday, 24 January 2018. Local media outlets reported extensively on the event, which generated a lot of reactions on social media platforms.

A quick monitoring conducted by the Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) via search engines showed that local and Arabic websites published more than 230 items on this story within 24 hours. Most of the items focused on the details of the auction and the purchase of a unique number, which is 77-7, for the amount of 450,000 Jordanian dinars.

The most obvious professional mistake committed by a number of news websites involved the nationality of the buyer. In the beginning, numerous websites reported that the buyer of the number 77-7 was an Iraqi investor. Some of them corrected this information afterward and pointed out that the buyer was a Jordanian national.

The following are some examples from local and Arabic websites: "Iraqi Living in Jordan Buys License Plate Number at Auction for 450,000 Dinars," "Migrant Worker Buys Unique License Plate Number for $700,000 in Jordan," and "Iraqi Buys Most Expensive License Plate Number in Jordan."

The Chinese news agency, Xinhua, quoted an official at the Licensing Department as saying that "this is the first time that the auction fetches this price," which is inaccurate. According to statements by Colonel Mamoun Azzam, deputy director of the Drivers and Motor Vehicles Licensing Department, "this is the first public auction for selling unique numbers. It is the first experience in this area, with the aim of curbing trading in numbers on the black market."

Here, we should note that media outlets made an effort to answer questions by the public and provide background information about the story. One news website said that these numbers used to be sold at a fixed price in the past and that the single-digit number was sold for 36,000 dinars, the double-digit number was sold for 23,000 dinars,  the triple-digit number was sold for 13,000 dinars, the four-digit number was sold for 7,000 dinars, and the five-digit number was sold for 5,000 dinars.

On the details of the auction, some media outlets reported that the minimum bid on single-digit numbers was 30,000 dinars; double-digit numbers, 20,000 dinars; triple-digit numbers, 10,000 dinars; four-digit numbers, 6,000 dinars; and five-digit numbers, 5,000 dinars. They explained that a 16% sales tax would be added to the highest bid and that the person who wins the bid would pay a percentage of the cost of the advertisement.

According to a statement by the Drivers and Motor Vehicles Licensing Department, the auction was organized after the issuance of a regulation amending License Plate Number Regulation No. 108 of 2017, which provided for selling unique license plate numbers at a public auction. On 7 November 2017, the minister of finance decided to form a committee for this purpose provided that the Licensing Department would be in charge of all the necessary administrative, technical, and executive arrangements and procedures.

Although media outlets focused on the following headline "Citizen Buys Unique License Plate Number (77-7) at Auction for 450,000 Dinars," some websites published different headlines, such as "Details of Auction of License Plate Numbers," and "Woman Buys 5 Numbers for 164,000 Dinars."

Some websites published op-ed articles on this issue, including "Auction for Selling Unique Numbers and "Destitute" Brothers," and "Are We Indeed Not Destitute?" These articles linked the economic situation to the purchase of a license plate number at this price. However, they did not speak negatively about the highest bidder.

Meanwhile, social media sites, which are affiliated with media establishments and activists, were replete with expressions that suggest hate speech toward the buyer. The expressions contained libel and contempt in the wake of publishing news about the purchase of the license plate number for 450,000 dinars. The AKEED Monitor refrains from republishing such expressions. On the other hand, many comments emphasized that the buyer was free to do whatever he wants with his money.

Some people linked the value of the purchase of the license plate number to the living conditions of citizens in Jordan, especially in light of the ongoing debate after government decisions to increase prices of goods and lift bread subsidy.

On media interest in this subject, Ziad Ruba"i, director of the training center at the Jordan Press Association, told the Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) that the fact that some websites published information to the effect that the buyer was Iraqi reflected haste, which reveals a weakness and flaw in professionalism.  He stressed that the media must verify information before publishing it.

He added that "the media must apologize if the news is offensive. However, in the event of a media outlet correcting its information and publishing more accurate information, then correcting this information could be enough."

On the fact that the news went viral, he pointed out that the oddness of the story made it spread fast. A citizen buying a license plate number for 522,000 dinars, tax included, in light of citizens" economic complaints makes the story unusual and causes it to go viral.

On the fact that this story coincided with the interest of the public in the armed robbery of two banks, he said that "each story is separate. They do not affect each other." He added that news websites in general disallowed direct comments on the story, which made people comment on social media sites. He indicated that commenting without being offensive is a positive thing, but causing offense is against ethics and laws.

AKEED thinks that most news websites, in general, did not commit violations of professional ethics in talking about the person who won the bid and provided background information and details of the subject to satisfy the curiosity of the public. The clear violations involved some websites copying from other websites and pasting without indicating the source of the story. This is in addition to the lack of accuracy involving the nationality of the buyer of the license plate number.