Court ruling: Al Ain employees fined Dh100,000 for Snapchat defamation

An Al Ain court has ordered two employees of a mobile phone retailer to pay Dh100,000 in damages after using their company’s Snapchat account to defame a competing business, accusing it of deceiving customers and selling counterfeit products.

The Al Ain Court for Civil, Commercial, and Administrative Claims also ordered the defendants to publish a formal apology and retraction on the same Snapchat account through which the defamatory content was shared. 

The ruling followed a civil lawsuit filed by a mobile phone sales and marketing company against three individuals working in the same sector and a retail establishment, seeking Dh200,000 in compensation for material and moral damage, Emarat Al Youm reported. 

The claimant also requested that the defendants be compelled to publish an apology, in a form determined by the court, and to cover legal costs.

According to court records, the defendants used a Snapchat account registered in the name of the retail establishment to post allegations that questioned the claimant’s commercial integrity, accusing it of fraud and misleading customers. 

The claimant argued that the posts had harmed its reputation and undermined consumer trust, particularly given its large following on social media.

The court noted that the criminal court had previously convicted the first three defendants of defamation, fining each Dh10,000, ordering the confiscation of the phone used in the offence and the deletion of the video content.

In their defence, the defendants argued that the civil claim should be dismissed on procedural grounds, asserting that the company was not the direct victim named in the criminal ruling and that the retail establishment was not a party to the criminal case. 

They also challenged the compensation sought as excessive and unsupported by evidence of actual loss.

The court rejected these arguments, ruling that the defamatory statements directly targeted the claimant’s commercial reputation and therefore constituted harm to the legal entity itself, regardless of whether the criminal complaint had been filed by the company’s owner. 

It further held that the retail establishment bore liability, as the defamatory acts were committed in the course of employment and using its official social media account.

In its reasoning, the court said the wide reach of social media, combined with the fact that both parties operate in the same commercial sector, made reputational damage a foreseeable and direct consequence of the defendants’ actions.

The court awarded Dh100,000 in compensation and ordered the defendants to publish an apology and a clear denial of the allegations via the same Snapchat account, describing the measure as a form of in-kind compensation aimed at correcting the harm caused. All other claims were dismissed.