The UAE Attorney-General, Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, has ordered the arrest and urgent trial of 35 individuals for circulating fabricated and misleading content online. The group includes 19 Indian nationals who were detained alongside 16 individuals of various other nationalities. Authorities stated the arrests followed monitoring of digital activity related to recent regional security developments and air defense interceptions.
Official reports indicate the detainees were involved in three distinct types of digital violations. Twelve individuals are accused of sharing authentic footage of interceptions while adding sound effects or commentary intended to incite public panic. Another seven allegedly used artificial intelligence to create synthetic scenes of explosions or shared old footage from other countries, falsely claiming the events were occurring within the UAE.
Six individuals face charges of spreading propaganda that glorified hostile entities and their military leadership. The UAE Public Prosecution confirmed that these actions fall under Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021, which carries a minimum penalty of one year in prison and fines starting at 100,000 dirhams.
The Indian Embassy and local authorities have issued advisories urging residents to rely solely on official government channels for news. They warned that filming military operations or sharing unverified clips on platforms like WhatsApp and TikTok remains a criminal offense under the country’s cybercrime laws.
