What Are Penalties for Defamation on Social Media in UAE?

Defamation through electronic means is a criminal offence under the UAE Cybercrime Law. Penalties include imprisonment, a fine, and potential damages awarded in a related civil case ^[1].

What counts as defamation:

• Posting, sharing, or forwarding statements that harm someone's reputation, accuse them of conduct that, if true, would be punishable, or impute dishonour to them.
• Insulting language, pictures, or recordings published online — even on a personal feed visible to others.
• Forwarding someone else's defamatory content can also be punishable; "I just shared it" is not a complete defence.

Aggravating factors that increase penalties:

• The target is a public official acting in their function.
• The content includes false attribution of religious, ethnic, or racial slurs.
• The publication is to a wide audience (mass-circulated).

What NOT to do if you receive a complaint:

• Do not delete the post immediately and do not message the complainant — these acts can be used as evidence and may be characterised as obstruction.
• Stop further publication and contact a UAE-licensed criminal lawyer immediately.

Defences include truth (if the content is verifiable and was published in good faith for a legitimate purpose) and absence of intent (in some specific contexts).