The news quickly spread among tourists, but the DIP decided to find out under what conditions you can run into a fine.
The government noted that such images “wreak havoc” among the population. Therefore, a fine of up to 1 million dirhams is provided for the distribution of materials. Such a measure, as is known, was announced by the UAE authorities back in 2016. Then the government announced that posts discrediting the country could be subject to serious punishment.
“Damage to the country’s reputation is punishable by imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 million Emirati dirhams,” International Business Times reported at the time.
We decided to check with a tourist living in Abu Dhabi whether such a law exists. According to her, the ban does not apply specifically to the event of a flood. After all, hundreds of thousands of people publish photos and videos: both locals and tourists.
“Now everyone is talking about floods. Almost everyone also publishes on social networks, but no one will find users for this. But if you publish pictures or videos from the scenes of incidents, especially accidents or deaths, then, of course, you can be punished for this.
We are already accustomed to the laws, we know that we cannot take pictures of third parties, car license plates, and everything that concerns the privacy and safety of strangers. You cannot take screenshots of correspondence. In general, such situations are regulated by law. And for a flood, probably in isolated cases,” the girl shared with us.
Note that last week, as a result of bad weather, approximately 45 flights from Dubai were either canceled or diverted to nearby airports.