UAE: Man arrested over offensive social media video in luxury car showroom

Abu Dhabi: The Federal Prosecution for Combating Rumours and Electronic Crimes in the UAE has ordered the pretrial detention of a resident pending an investigation into a number of charges levelled against him.

The individual is accused of using the information network to spread sensationalist propaganda designed to stir public opinion and damage public interest. Furthermore, he was charged with disseminating content that fails to comply with media content standards and is offensive to UAE society.

The charges arose after the Federal Investigation Department at the UAE Attorney General Office detected a social media video of the accused wearing an Emirati uniform in a luxury car showroom.

The video depicted the defendant being followed by two individuals carrying what appeared to be large sums of money. Engaging in dialogue with the car showroom owner, he requested to buy a car costing more than Dh2 million in a dismissive manner. He then proceeded to distribute financial packages to showroom workers in a way that demonstrated a lack of respect for and understanding of the value of money.

The Public Prosecution stated that this behaviour promoted a false and offensive projection of Emirati citizens, leading to public agitation and potential harm to public interest.

In addition to the charges against the individual, the Public Prosecution has also summoned the owner of the car showroom where the video was filmed.

The Public Prosecution urged social media users in the UAE to abide by legal and ethical standards in their media content. They were advised to respect the societal norms and values inherent to the UAE, which should guide their behaviours to prevent falling foul of the law.